Brussels, 02/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - Negotiations for a first reading agreement on a draft centralised approval for new therapies resulting from tissue and cell engineering (EUROPE 9371) have failed. At the very moment the trialogue discussions (Parliament, Commission, Council) were due to finish, EPP-ED rapporteur, Miroslav Mikolasik, from Slovakia, made a decision on Friday 30 March, with the official support of German Green, Hiltrud Breyer, and that of German Christian Democrat, Peter Liese (who was not directly taking part in the negotiations) to slam the door. The pretext given was that the Commission and Council did not want to discuss ethical amendments voted on by Parliament's legal committee. In a press release, the rapporteur explained that he would not agree to these amendments being left out of the negotiations in this way. In reality, the approach pursued by the German presidency of the Council, the Commission and the shadow rapporteurs from the PES and ELDR groups, is expected to facilitate an agreement at the trialogue on all technical aspects as soon as possible. The parliamentary plenary will then be able to give a decision on the compromise and the two ethical amendments. By rejecting the latter, Parliament would have been able to close the procedure in a first reading, notching up an important victory, since most of its technical amendments had been included in the text. In the event of the adoption of the two amendments, the second reading would only have focused on the ethical aspects. This is not what Miroslav Mikolasik wanted, who once again chose to hold up a key treatment for patients. (oj)