Brussels, 26/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - Following the announcement on the weekend of the cloning of an embryo by the American company, Advanced Cell Technology, the European Commissioner for Research, Philippe Busquin declared on Monday that, "Not everything that is scientifically possible and technologically feasible is not necessarily desirable or admissible".
The developments in the US demonstrate the urgency and importance of a European debate and position on research involving embryonic stems systems. Mr Busquin welcomed the fact that this was an ongoing debate and that the result of the European Parliament's vote last week confirmed the European Commission's proposal for ethical rules in the sixth Research and Development Framework Programme (see EUROPE 15 November page 10). Mr Busquin explained that, "the base line is to exclude from funding any research that involves human reproductive cloning, any research involving the creation of human embryos for research purposes or for the procurement of embryonic stem cells and any research that aims at modifying the genetic heritage of man. These rules would exclude from EU funding the cloning of embryos, even for therapeutic reasons. However, Commissioner Andrea Dahmen stressed that the case was a "complex" one for several reasons. Firstly, research on aborted foetuses, the remains of in-vitro fertilisations and surplus embryos resulting from fertility treatment would be eligible for Community funding under certain conditions. Secondly, the disparity between different Member States was an important factor - some Member States ratified the Oviedo Declaration at the Convention of the Council of Europe for the protection of human rights and the dignity of human beings (Greece, Spain, Italy) while others did not ratify it (Austria, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom). Seven other countries have signed it whilst Ireland is a completely different case, as its Constitution prohibits any research on embryos altogether. The legally binding declaration of Oviedo prohibits signatories from cloning human beings, either dead or alive or from creating human embryos for research purposes. Ms Dahmen declared that the Commission intended to confine itself to a financial definition of what qualified for funding and would not be prepared to interfere in the legislative activities of Member States even if it wanted to or not. Commissioner Dahmen also claimed that the Commission would respect the different opinions expressed and did not seek to become the ethical arbiter at a Community level. Mr Busquin recognised that a number of scientific questions remained open, which would be the subject of a conference organised by the Commission on 18-19 December under the heading, "Stem Cells: therapies for the future?"