Brussels, 25/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - The “Competitiveness” Council approved its common position on the 7th research framework programme for 2007-13 by qualified majority voting without debate on 25 September. Twenty countries accounting for 267 votes according to the vote weighting system in force voted for and five countries: Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Austria and Slovakia, representing 54 votes, votes against, due to their opposition involving human stem cell research. In a declaration, the European Commission pointed out that the legal framework established with the 6th RDFP would remain in force during implementation of the 7th framework programme. It underlined that no activities would be funded in Member States that banned this kind of research. Reproductive cloning remains subject to a general ban as do those that lead to modifications of germ lines or create human embryos for research or those for producing stem cells. In other words, only research activities from surplus embryos can be used in stem cell research, namely those that are due to be destroyed. Several Member States have made declarations: Germany points out that despite the Commission's efforts, provisions on ethics are still insufficient but said that it would vote for the text because of its outstanding importance to European research and social development in the EU; Portugal supports research on human stem cells but regrets the exclusion of a mechanism for obtaining these cells because it believes that the funding of this kind of activity would have definitely led to being able to monitor them at an ethical level; Austria, Poland, Malta and Lithuania explained their reasons to opposing it. Ministers reached an agreement on the text for the common position on 24 July (EUROPE 9238).