Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-11-17-Speech-1-061"
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"en.20031117.6.1-061"2
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"Mr President, honourable Members, I welcome this opportunity to address an issue in which Parliament has always shown a great interest.
I should also like to stress that funding for research using embryonic stem cells is in addition to funding for research on adult stem cells. Research on both types of cells is necessary, in particular because their properties are different, as moreover are the medical applications envisaged.
It is also important, however, to be able to have new embryonic stem cell lines at our disposal, because those that exist today are few in number, for the most part of poor quality and – I would stress – essentially non-European, patented and therefore only accessible at high prices, even for research work. Under these circumstances, it is in Europe’s interests to develop its own capacity.
In conclusion, I would remind you that the three institutions have undertaken to reach a decision on this dossier by the end of the year and I am obviously counting very much on Parliament’s support to achieve this.
I should like first of all to thank the rapporteur and all of the members of the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy for the high standard of their work. My thanks also go to the rapporteur and members of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market.
In the economy of the knowledge-based society that the Union has set itself the objective of developing in Europe, scientific research and technological development by definition play a key role. More than ever, both the competitiveness of companies and the quality of life enjoyed by European citizens depend on advances in scientific knowledge and their exploitation.
It has often been said, and with good reason, that this century will be the century of life science and technology. Research on embryonic stem cells would appear to be crucial to gain more knowledge about the very first stages of life. It also promises to have significant medical applications, such as in the treatment of diseases that have so far been incurable, particularly degenerative diseases – cancer or Alzheimer’s disease for example – which are placing an increasing burden on European society in terms of human suffering and in economic terms. In the shorter term, research on embryonic stem cells will allow scientists to gain a better understanding of the processes of cell differentiation and reproduction, the key processes in forming life and in the emergence of certain diseases, which will make advances in other research areas possible.
This research will gain from being carried out at European level, where the added value of cooperation is significant. Cooperation between teams from different Member States allows the resources required to be used more effectively and makes it possible to obtain the best results more quickly for the benefit of the scientific community and patients across Europe.
I will speak first of all about the institutional context to this cooperation. The proposal tabled by the Commission on 9 July was a follow-up to the Council of 30 September 2002, during which the specific programmes were adopted for the implementation of the sixth framework programme of research. On that occasion it was agreed that the Commission would table a legislative proposal amending the specific programme ‘Integrating and strengthening the European Research Area’ and setting out a framework for research using embryos and human embryonic stem cells.
The Commission is therefore proposing a set of principles, a framework which lays down very strict, clear and transparent conditions, both scientific and ethical, which are intended to govern the funding of research projects using human supernumerary embryos to develop new stem cell lines. The Commission believes that it has drafted a responsible proposal to the extent that it strikes a good balance between, on the one hand, meeting the needs of research and the expectations of patients and, on the other hand, providing an assurance that such research will respect the strictest ethical standards. Imposing even stricter conditions than those proposed by the Commission would in practice amount to banning this research, when in fact it is permitted in accordance with the decisions already made by Parliament and the Council regarding the framework programme and its specific programmes.
I should like to underline that it is not our business here to lay down ethical rules for stem cell research in Europe. The conditions proposed only apply to the sixth framework programme and do not affect national legislation. This research will never be funded in a country where it is forbidden.
In proposing these conditions, the Commission wanted to send out a clear message to those who might have reservations about the type of research concerned here. It proposes that only those supernumerary embryos that were created before 27 June 2002 may be used. The purpose of this time limit is to prevent Community financing providing any kind of an incentive to create additional supernumerary embryos for research purposes during in vitro fertilisation procedures."@en1
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