Brussels, 28/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - As anticipated, on Monday morning, the Competitiveness Council approved its "partial general orientation" on the seventh framework programme for research and development (FPRD) for 2007-2013. This text (see also EUROPE 9076) sets the broad outlines of the Council's position, without prejudice to any amendments the European Parliament may introduce at its first reading of the proposals of the Commission, on the basis of the report by former Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek. The partial general orientation, which does not go into the budgetary aspects of the programme, could also be seriously called into question if further arbitration is necessary as a result of the adoption of financial perspectives which are insufficient to pay for the whole European research programme.
On Monday, six Member States- Austria, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia and Malta-expressed reservations on research activities focusing on material of embryonic origin. These States stage that they "cannot accept that activities including the destruction of human embryos can be eligible for financing under the seventh FPRD", and call upon the Commission to "abandon projects concerning the eligibility for funding of research activities which include the destruction of human embryos". They add that "the approach envisaged by the seventh FPRD and the specific programmes take insufficient account of the therapeutic potential of adult stem cells, and call for substantial commitment at Community level to promote research on adult stem cells". "In this context, these delegations believe that decisions concerning support for research including the destruction of human embryos must be left up to the Member States individually. Europe must fully respect the principle of subsidiarity and abstain from funding activities which encroach upon fundamental ethical principles, perception of which differs from one Member State to the next", continues the text of this written declaration, by which the six Member States reserve the right to reopen the debate on ethical issues and on article 6 of the framework programme, taking account of the opinion of the European Parliament and of work carried out in the meantime on the specific programmes.
Whilst encouraging research on adult stem cells, this text is careful not to mention research work which can be carried out on stem cell lines already in culture, which had been the gist of the compromise reached as part of the sixth framework programme. The reference to the opinion of the European Parliament appears to indicate that the latter institution is now able to place the cursor between a rigorous framework and an absolute ban on funding research on stem cells of human embryonic origin.