Agreement on Common Embryo Research Policy Left Undecided by EU

|PIC1|The European Union will maintain a passive approach towards funding the human embryonic stem cell research, which is banned in some member states. Although research ministers on Monday discussed what to do under the new 2007-2013 research programme, there was no majority to change the policy.

Meanwhile some Christian Churches consider Embryonic stem cells to be controversial, claiming that the research is equivalent to destroying human life.

Rather than the human embryonic stem cell research being a general policy, applications for funding for the research are considered case-by-case by a committee, under an EU program which ends this year. In addition, each project must show that the research could not be conducted using adult stem cells such as bone marrow.

This allowed governments to skirt the need for an over-arching policy, which proved impossible as largely Roman Catholic member such as Italy and Poland, could muster a blocking minority.

Six projects using embryonic stem cells have been approved for EU funds so far. Human cloning is completely banned in the 25-nation bloc.

|TOP|Austria, which holds the rotating EU presidency, is among countries that ban the use of embryonic stem cells for research.

"We still think that adult stem cell research is preferable to embryonic stem cells, but we don't have a qualified majority in favour of this," Elisabeth Gehrer, Austria's minister for education, science and culture, told a news briefing.

Gehrer said the simplest solution would be to continue with the current system.

A European Commission official said 15 of the 25 member states favored continuing the case-by-case approach, making its continuation inevitable.