Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

[**Avis juridique important**](../../../editorial/legal_notice.htm)

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# 92000E2852

**WRITTEN QUESTION P-2852/00 by Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Go-ahead for human cloning given by UK Government.** 
  
*Official Journal 136 E , 08/05/2001 P. 0111 - 0111*

  

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2852/00

by Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(5 September 2000)

Subject: Go-ahead for human cloning given by UK Government

On 16 August the United Kingdom authorised the first forms of human cloning for research purposes in violation of European Parliament and Council Directive 98/44/EC(1) of 6 July 1998 on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions, which explicitly prohibits any form of human cloning. Article 5 of the directive stipulates that: the human body, at all the stages of its formation and development, and the simple discovery of one of its elements, including the sequence or partial sequence of a gene, cannot constitute patentable inventions.

Will the Commission President call on the UK Government to end this anti-European initiative which is in breach of Community laws, invoking the principles of responsibility, solidarity and defence of the international community enshrined in the Treaties establishing the Union and which the UK Government has seriously flouted?

Does the Commission also have any information concerning pressures which may have been brought to bear on the United Kingdom Government by those who support human cloning for economic purposes and ends, and, if so, will it immediately inform the European Parliament thereof?

(1) OJ L 213, 30.7.1998, p. 13.

Joint answer to Written Questions P-2852/00 and P-2931/00 given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(3 October 2000)

The member responsible for research stated a position on behalf of the Commission during Parliament's plenary session on 6 September 2000 with regard to the report by the UK group of experts concerning the authorisation of research into human embryonic stem cells and their therapeutic uses.

On this occasion he pointed out that Parliament and Council Directive 98/44/EC of 6 July 1998 on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions regulated the conditions under which an invention based on biological matter may receive patent protection. However, the aim of the directive is not to lay down conditions under which the research itself may be carried out.

Respect for the national identity of the Member States and for subsidiarity has caused the Treaty on European Union to leave the prerogatives to legislate on matters of ethics to the Member States themselves.

The Commission cannot impose any constraints on the freedom of states to lay down the conditions under which they wish to regulate research. Its role consists of promoting a debate on ethics while maintaining the diversity of our cultures and our sensitivities in Europe. It is thus one of the aims of the European research area.

The Commission has in its possession no information on any pressure on the UK authorities.

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