Parliament and ministers in clash over human embryo research ban

Date: 12/09/02

By Jane Davis

A ROW has broken out between the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers over a temporary ban on stem cell and human embryo research that EU ministers are expected to endorse later this month.

The proposal was made by the Danish presidency after the Council failed to agree on the areas in which the EU will fund research from now until 2006.

Objections were made by Italy, which threatened to reject the entire proposal if human embryonic stem cell research and embryo research were financed by the EU.

The presidency is eager to see an agreement before the launch of the new research programme, the Sixth Framework Programme, in November. MEPs have accused the Council of violating the EU Treaties and the Parliament's co-decision rights by adopting a temporary embargo on funding and are considering consulting the Parliament's legal service.

Spanish MEP Carlos Westendorp y Cabeza accused the Council of going back on an agreement between both institutions in May and June.

He said that by adopting the embargo, the Council has 'taken hostage' one part of the research world.

Westendorp has also announced that he will ask the Parliament's president, Pat Cox, not to accept accelerated procedures under co-decision in future as 'the Parliament cannot be sure that the Council will respect all agreements reached between the Council presidency and Parliament's delegation during negotiations'.

Other MEPs also criticised the move as undervaluing Parliament's good faith.

While the chief advisor to the Danish science ministry, Knud Larsen, insisted the proposed compromise does respect the Parliament's position, Tokil Keemes, a Danish member of the Council's working group, said that Parliament's complaints are to some extent justified and cannot be ignored.

'The presidency has been put in a very difficult position. We need to reflect further,' he said.

Larsen said that disagreement between the member states on the proposal 'reflect differences in Europe, between the very progressive states such as the UK, and other more reluctant countries'. He is, however, confident of reaching agreement in the Research Council very soon.

But Keemes highlighted that, for this particular issue, a majority in favour of the compromise would be enough for adoption by the Council, meaning that any dissenters can be overruled.

Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin has played down the ethical aspect of the future research package, saying that only a very small number of projects would touch upon embryonic research.

But Dutch MEP Maria Martens responded to his assurances by saying: 'This is not a minor problem. In some countries it is against the law or against the constitution. This is symbolic of how the ethical dimension is often dealt with.'

German MEP Peter Liese criticised the Commission's tendency to separate commercial and ethical issues, as was the case with the Commission's bio-patent directive.

'The Commission said 'this is a directive that only deals with economics, please don't discuss ethics, this is not the right place. Ethics is a national question',' said Liese.

A row has broken out between the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers over a temporary ban on stem cell and human embryo research that European Union ministers are expected to endorse later in September 2002.