Riceviamo dalla Commissione Europea questo aggiornamento sulla
ricerca sulle cellule staminaloi di derivazione embrionale

prof Enzo Reale
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Council washes its hands of embryonic stem cell research debate

A special meeting of the Competitiveness Council on 3 December failed
to deliver a political agreement on EU funding for human embryonic
stem cell research.

It is now highly unlikely that EU ministers will reach a decision
before the specified 31 December deadline. If this is the case, the
Commission has declared its intention to begin inviting proposals
for such research, which will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

Italian Research Minister and acting president of the Competitiveness
Council, Letizia Moratti, said: 'It is now up to the European
Commission to decide on research using stem cells from human embryos,
either alone or in conjunction with the next EU Presidency] .'

However, the chances of a deal being struck under the Irish
Presidency, which begins on 1 January 2004, already look slim.
Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister, Mary Harney was reported as
describing the Council's failure to reach a compromise as the'worst
case scenario', and said that she could not see the issue of stem
cell research guidelines being resolved during the Irish Presidency.

The Commission, however, still hopes that the issue can be resolved
under the next Presidency. A spokesperson for Research Commissioner
Philippe Busquin told CORDIS News: 'It is now up to the Council and
the Presidency to show some leadership and come up with an
acceptable proposal.'

The spokesperson added that the failure to reach a compromise was
through no fault of the Commission's. 'The Commission made a last
minute proposal to try and save the day, but the Council was not
prepared to discuss an vote on the plans. We are very disappointed
with the final outcome.'

He explained that the Commission proposal sought to avoid the
ethical objections of some Member States by not allowing EU funds
to be used for the relatively simple procedure of procuring stem
cells from human embryos. Instead, EU money would be used to
develop and characterise new stem cell lines from already isolated
stem cells, ensuring that no embryos are destroyed within the
framework of EU projects.

The likely outcome now is that the Commission will evaluate
proposals for various types of research using embryonic stem cells.
Accepted projects will then be reviewed on a case by case basis by
regulatory committees, on which Member States are represented.

Mr Busquin's spokesperson does not believe that the involvement of
Member States on these committees will ensure that such research
projects are blocked. 'These committees adopt a reverse approach,
whereby a qualified majority is needed in order to reject the
project. In the case of less controversial research using embryonic
stem cells, it is likely that some projects will be approved.

Per approfondire:
http://ue.eu.int/newsroom/LoadDoc.asp?DID=78186&LANG=1