Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-12-15-Speech-1-056"
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"en.20031215.6.1-056"2
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"Mr President, I commend Mr Liese for his dedicated work on this very sensitive and technical subject. Tomorrow we will vote on a compromise package of 21 amendments. The fact that an agreement was struck between Parliament and the Council is, in no small measure, due to the unstinting efforts of the rapporteur, who made every effort to keep all the political groups on side and who vigorously defended the views of Parliament with the other institutions.
The common position was totally unacceptable from Parliament's point of view. The Council gave scant regard to over 50 amendments adopted by this House in the first reading. The final deal before us this week is far more reflective of the reality of the Council and Parliament being equal legislators in this area. Through our perseverance Parliament has clearly improved on the original proposal. As far as ethical principles are concerned, I welcome the more specific language to reinforce the principle of voluntary unpaid donations of cells and tissues.
I am also very pleased with the new wording in relation to the protection of the anonymity of the donor. The wording is now clearer in terms of many crucial aspects: the basic principle that human body parts, be they tissues or cells, must not be treated like some commercially tradable product.
As regards organs, Parliament has accepted that this directive is not the appropriate place in which to deal with organ transplants. Nevertheless, we look forward to a proposal from the Commission on the subject, which is of great importance.
Regarding the issue of cloning, I would have been happier with the original Amendment No 38, but there are sufficient safeguards included in this compromise. Member States have an explicit right to put stringent public health rules in place, including a total exclusion of cloned human material or human animal hybrids, as transplantable material. Apart from the clear health risks involved in transplanting cloned material when so much is unknown about the future consequences, I oppose the creation of human life as raw material for tissues and cells. I believe this to be a serious violation of human dignity and the right to life as enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
This Parliament has repeatedly voiced its opposition to human cloning and is committed to a universal ban on human cloning.
In conclusion, my Group supports the compromise and tabled the full set of amendments involved. This is an important directive that will, I am sure, be a vital contribution to public health in the European Union by ensuring a high quality of tissues and cells for transplantation, while at the same time respecting fundamental ethical considerations."@en1
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