Call to give ethics group wider remit

Date: 04/12/1997

By Leyla Linton

EUROPEAN Commission President Jacques Santer is calling for the remit of the group which advises his institution on bioethics to be extended to include new technologies.

As the group prepares its opinion for the Commission on integrating ethics into the Fifth Framework Programme for research and technological development next Thursday (11 December), Santer has said its independent and consultative structure should be reinforced: "I would even say that it seems to me more logical to extend its field of competence beyond biotechnology. Ethical considerations should encompass new technologies in a general way."

The current mandate of the Group of Advisers on the Ethical Implications of Biotechnology (GAEIB) expires at the end of 1997. GAEIB's opinion on the Fifth Framework Programme is being drafted by Belgian Gilbert Hottois, joint director of the centre for interdisciplinary research in bioethics at Belgian university ULB and a member of Belgium's national ethics committee.

His report will outline a general ethical approach for EU-funded research programmes. It will not detail specific ethical criteria, but is likely to suggest that researchers should shoulder their share of ethical responsibility.

It is, however, also expected to stress that the independence of researchers should be respected and underline that they cannot be held responsible for all the ethical ramifications of their work.

It may further suggest that although some types of research are banned in one member state, they should not be outlawed in others. The EU has no direct competence regarding research done in member states and funds only 3.5% of such work carried out in the Union. But experts feel this has a symbolic value and that the ethical standards adopted for EU-funded research could influence the approach of national projects.

Jacques Santer suggests that the remit of the Group of Advisers on the Ethical Implications of Biotechnology (GAEIB) should be expanded. GAEIB also reports on the subject of an ethical approach to EU-funded R&D programmes.