The Commission may require the adoption of a scientific opinion from a Scientific Committee within a specified period.

The Commission may require the adoption of a joint opinion on questions which do not fall within the fields of competence of a single Scientific Committee or which need to be considered by more than one Committee. A joint opinion, following a request for an opinion from the Commission, may also be adopted by Scientific Committees at the initiative of the Inter-Committee Coordination Group referred to in Article 11.

The Commission may define in the request for a scientific opinion the consultations, hearings or collaboration with other scientific bodies it deems necessary for the preparation of this opinion. Consultations and hearings may also be decided by a Committee, in agreement with the Commission, if considered necessary for completing an opinion.

A Scientific Committee may require additional information from stakeholders for the completion of a scientific opinion. A Scientific Committee may give a deadline for submitting the required information to it. In such a case, the Scientific Committee may decide to suspend its work on the scientific opinion in question. If the required information has not been submitted within that deadline, the Committee may adopt its opinion on the basis of the available information.