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EUROPE: MEPs Vote To Support Stem Cell Research Decision puts pressure on governments to fund biomedical studies to cure wide range of diseases Ian Black in Brussels Thursday November 20, 2003 The Guardian The European parliament yesterday voted to allow EU money to be spent on controversial stem cell research in the face of bitter condemnation from some campaign groups. The move puts pressure on member governments to free between €40m and €50m for strictly controlled studies that use human embryos to find treatments for conditions such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's. MEPs yesterday voted by 291 to 235 to support new quality and safety standards for "the manipulation of tissues and cells" after intense lobbying by patients' groups and medical researchers. This highly divisive issue split the parliament down the middle earlier this year. However, the landmark decision is not binding. The last word still rests with member states. They will ultimately decide whether to lift a moratorium that prevents cash from Brussels being spent on such experiments. Catholic countries such as Germany, Italy, Portugal and Austria are unlikely to approve of the spending, though the European commission has argued that Europe risks falling behind in a profitable area of biotechnology unless funds are provided. The new rules would allow researchers to spend EU money to harvest new stem cells from frozen human embryos under certain conditions. Yesterday's vote in Strasbourg was hailed as a significant advance by those in favour of stem cell research. "We have been working closely with patients' groups and British biomedical researchers who lead the world in this research," said Eryl McNally, a Labour MEP. "This is not research done out of idle curiosity. It is done with the aim of bringing hope to sufferers from some very serious diseases." The UK Association of Medical Research Charities welcomed the vote. "We see no reason why there should be a restriction on using EU funds," a spokesman, Simon Festing, said. "The EU cannot in any case fund something that is illegal in a member state." Nick Clegg, a Liberal Democratic MEP, said: "There are many ethical concerns surrounding the issue of stem cell research, but it is important such research can go ahead under an agreed framework of safety and quality rules." Opponents of the decision insisted the go-ahead will mean destroying a potentially viable human embryo. "It is a terrible thing that this has been agreed," the Irish MEP, Dana Scallon, protested yesterday. "This will fund research using human life as though it were an instrument in a laboratory." Stem cells, which scientists believe could be used to treat a wide range of degenerative diseases, can potentially grow into any type of human tissue. Once harvested, they can be kept growing in laboratories indefinitely. Sweden, Finland, Greece, the Netherlands and Britain allow harvesting stem cells from so-called supernumerary embryos - ones that are the result of in vitro fertilisation - under certain conditions. Britain is the only EU member state that allows the creation of human embryos for stem cell procurement. "No country is forced to do anything they believe is wrong but ethical issues are matters for national parliaments to decide," said David Bowe, a Labour MEP. "The opponents of stem cell research were trying to impose their view on the whole of Europe. The European parliament agreed it was wrong to try to impose one ethical view. Europe can't be run as if it were a single state with a religious consensus. "There is no ethical consensus in Europe." Opponents are also campaigning to amend the EU's tissues and cells directive and a planned UN resolution banning human cloning. Researchers say that Britain's liberal rules on human embryo stem cell research are starting to create a "reverse brain drain effect" which is attracting scientists from the US, where the anti-abortion lobby, especially the Catholic church, exerts a powerful influence. President George Bush has prohibited federal funds from being used for research on human embryonic stem cell lines created after August 2001. Critics say the ban impedes US research into potentially life-saving treatments. SOURCE: The Guardian, UK http://www.guardian.co.uk/eu/story/0,7369,1089056,00.html Special reports: European integration http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/flash/0,5860,408196,00.html France http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/0,11882,681877,00.html Germany http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/0,2759,184716,00.html Italy http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/0,12576,823937,00.html Austria http://www.guardian.co.uk/austria/0,2759,184722,00.html Cyprus http://www.guardian.co.uk/cyprus/0,11551,639479,00.html The euro http://www.guardian.co.uk/euro/0,11306,606524,00.html Turkey http://www.guardian.co.uk/turkey/0,12700,852986,00.html Useful links: Europa (EU homepage) http://europa.eu.int/index-en.htm European parliament http://www.europarl.eu.int/home/default_en.htm Council of the European Union http://ue.eu.int/en/summ.htm European commission http://europa.eu.int/comm/index_en.htm European court of justice http://curia.eu.int/en/index.htm EU committee of the regions http://www.cor.eu.int/ European Economic and Social Committee http://www.esc.eu.int/ * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn