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Please find enclosed the petition submitted by professor Piergiorgio Strata, Director of 'Rita Levi Montalcini Center for Brain Repair', on behalf of the "Luca Coscioni" Association, via di Torre Argentina, 76, 00186 Rome - Italy (Rome, the 1st of March 2006).
Petition to the European Parliament (art. 191 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament)
WE, THE UNDERSIGNED
call on the European Parliament to ensure that:
the Seventh Framework Programme on Research at least confirm the funding of research projects on stem cells obtained from supernumerary embryos;
eligibility to funding be extended to research projects on nuclear transfer (inappropriately called "therapeutic cloning")
WHEREAS
Article 12 of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, proclaims that the States Parties to the Covenant "recognise the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health";
Article 15 of the same proclaims that 1.) the States Parties to the Covenant "recognise the right of everyone: a) To take part in cultural life; b) To enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications; c) To benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he/she is the author";
2.) The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the same Covenant to achieve the full realization of these rights shall include those necessary for the conservation, the development and the diffusion of science and culture;
3.) The States Parties to the same Covenant undertake to respect the freedom indispensable for scientific research and creative activity;
4.) The States Parties to the same Covenant recognise the benefits to be derived from the encouragement and development of international contacts and co-operation in the scientific and cultural fields;
noting that
between 2002 and 2006 - through the Sixth Framework Programme on Research - the EU has been allocating major resources in order to capitalise on the results of research on the genome of living organisms, including the new potential for treatment and prevention arising from stem cell research.
according to the European Commission's report on stem cell research dated 3 April 2003 (Busquin Report), one of the most promising fields in biotechnology is that of stem cells.
research projects funded by the Sixth Framework Programme focus on diabetes, cardiovascular and nervous system diseases and other rare disease, thus offering hopes and prospects to tens of millions of European men and women. And yet, attempts are being made in the European Parliament to stop funding any research project involving the use of stem cells obtained from supernumerary embryos.
CONSIDERING ALL OF THE ABOVE
WE, THE UNDERSIGNED
call on the European Parliament to ensure that:
the Seventh Framework Programme on Research at least confirm the funding of research projects on stem cells obtained from supernumerary embryos;
eligibility to funding be extended to research projects on nuclear transfer (inappropriately called "therapeutic cloning")
