Brussels, 14/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - Freedom of scientific research was ardently defended during a seminar organised on 9 and 10 November by the Luca Coscioni Association for the freedom of scientific research with the support of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) at the European Parliament. During this meeting in preparation for the World Congress on the freedom of scientific research, to be held in Rome on 17 and 18 January 2006, Marco Cappato, former MEP and Executive Director of the Luca Coscioni Association, confirmed the need to combat prejudice and distortion that prevent scientific progress. He was speaking to an assembly composed of MEPs and representatives of scientific institutions in Italy, Spain, Israel, India and the United States. The final declaration of the conference, which received an acclamation of approval, states that the European Union cannot allow itself to rule out any part of this fundamental research that could lead to promising therapeutic breakthroughs. The EU has the duty to do everything it can to promote cooperation in this field and to ensure means that are essential to the development of research on its territory. Several speakers requested that research on human embryonic stem cells should benefit from Community funding under the 7th framework programme for research and development (FPRD). The Commission, which does not have power to propose legislation to frame scientific research at European level, has set up a mechanism that respects the legislative provisions of Member States, which are very rigorous and serious when it comes to ethical issues, said Jean-Michel Baer, Director of the Science and Society Unit of the European Commission. The Commission can neither prohibit nor force a Member State to carry out research on embryonic stem cells, but some national projects approved by the European Group on Ethics (EGE) after national ethics committees have given their opinion, may benefit from Community funding under the 6th FPRD when the legislation in force in the Member State authorises research into embryonic stem cells. The Commission suggests renewal of this mechanism for the 7th FPRD for 2007-2013, but 70 Conservative and Green MEPs sent an open letter to Commission President José Manuel Barroso in September stating that, for ethical reasons, it is unacceptable for research into embryonic stem cells to receive Community financing (EUROPE 9034). Reacting to this pressure, 170 MEPs from various political groups jointly signed another letter addressed to President Barroso to defend free scientific research as set out in Article 13 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (EUROPE 9059). “In the long term, the only wise thing to do ethically speaking is to explore every road possible and then leave it up to the individual to decide how he wants to be treated. We cannot continue to work on ideological premises that only show a single tendency”, Professor Demetrio Neri of Italy's national bioethics council warned. “We want our scientists to have the possibility of taking initiatives in every field that aim at truth and progress”, the president of the ALDE Group at the European Parliament, Graham Watson, said, stressing: “We must give research the means to be creative”.