9 European Citizens' Initiative: 'One
of Us'
| Committee's assessment
| Politically important
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| Committee's decision
| Cleared from scrutiny
|
| Document details
| Commission Communication on the European Citizens' Initiative 'One of Us'
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| Legal base
| — |
| Department
| Business, Innovation and Skills
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Summary and Committee's conclusions
9.1 The European Citizens' Initiative
was introduced by the Lisbon Treaty to encourage greater democratic
involvement of EU citizens in the legislative activities of the
EU. It allows one million EU citizens from at least one quarter
of all Member States to call on the Commission to propose legislation
on any matter for which it has the power to act.[44]
9.2 'One of Us' is the second citizens'
initiative to meet the requirements for registration and formal
consideration by the Commission. It attracted the support of
more than 1.7 million EU citizens and exceeded the minimum threshold
for the number of signatories required in 18 Member States (but
not in the UK).[45]
The 'One of Us' initiative asks the Commission to "establish
a ban and end the financing of activities which presuppose the
destruction of human embryos, particularly in the areas of research,
development aid and public health" and proposes amendments
to three EU Regulations to achieve this objective.[46]
9.3 The Commission met the organisers
of the citizens' initiative in April 2014 and took part in a public
hearing at the European Parliament. The Communication sets out
the Commission's legal and political conclusions on the citizens'
initiative and its reasons for deciding to take no further action.
The Government endorses the Commission's response.
9.4 Formal consideration by the Commission
of a citizens' initiative is a significant step — so far,
only two initiatives have reached this stage. We are pleased
to note that the Commission has provided a detailed and thorough
assessment of EU legislation affected by the 'One of Us' initiative
before concluding that no changes are warranted in this case,
a conclusion the Government shares.
9.5 We are content to clear the Communication
from scrutiny but note, in doing so, that the Commission places
particular weight on the legitimacy given to the current EU regulatory
framework for research and for development assistance by its passage,
with clear majorities, through the European Parliament and Council.
Given that co-decision is now the legislative norm within the
EU, we expect future citizens' initiatives to expose similar tensions
in balancing the legitimacy of the EU's own decision-making processes
against the demands resulting from the EU's first steps towards
a limited form of direct democracy.
Full details of the
documents: Commission Communication
on the European Citizens' Initiative 'One of Us': (36104), 10523/14
+ ADD 1, COM(14) 355.
Background
9.6 The 'One of Us' initiative invites
the Commission to amend three EU Regulations:
· the EU Financial Regulation
establishing the rules for implementing the EU budget, so that
it precludes any budget allocation for the funding of activities
that destroy human embryos or presume their destruction;
· the Horizon 2020 Regulation,
to preclude funding for research activities that destroy human
embryos, including those aimed at obtaining stem cells, and for
research involving the use of human embryonic stem cells in subsequent
steps to obtain them; and
· the Development Cooperation
Instrument Regulation, to preclude the use of EU funds, directly
or indirectly, to support abortion.
The Commission Communication
9.7 The Commission notes that all EU
legislation and expenditure must comply with the EU Treaties and
the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights which enshrine respect for
human rights, including human dignity, the right to life, and
the right to the integrity of the person. It highlights the importance
of human embryonic stem cell research in developing treatments
for a wide variety of diseases, as well as the diversity of the
regulatory framework governing human embryonic stem cell research
in Europe — permitted, subject to controls and conditions
in 18 Member States, prohibited in three, and subject to no specific
legislation in the remaining Member States.
9.8 Funding for human embryonic stem
cell research is permitted under the EU's Horizon 2020 programme,
but is subject to a strict ethical framework and "triple
lock" system:
· all EU-funded projects must
comply with the laws of the country in which the research is carried
out;
· all projects must be scientifically
validated by peer review and undergo rigorous ethical review;
and
· EU funds may not be used
to derive new stem cell lines or for research that destroys embryos,
including for the procurement of stem cells.
9.9 The Commission adds that it does
not solicit project proposals for human embryonic stem cell research
but seeks, instead, to fund research that offers the most promising
means of treating some of the most prevalent diseases, such as
cancer, diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. It suggests
that human embryonic stem cell research has potential to achieve
significant health benefits and that EU-funded collaborative projects
can increase coordination, reduce duplication, and prevent the
unnecessary production and use of stem cell lines. In the period
2007-13, the EU funded 27 such projects involving the use of human
embryonic stem cells, with an EU budget contribution of €156.7
million out of a total of €6 billion available for health
research.[47]
9.10 Turning to development cooperation,
the Commission says that its policies on EU assistance for maternal
and child health are guided by the United Nations Millennium Development
Goals (MDG) and the International Conference on Population and
Development (ICPD) Programme of Action. EU funding in the area
of health seeks to support the efforts of partner countries in
developing universal and equitable access to national healthcare
systems, principally through direct budget support, but funding
is also channelled through UN agencies or Global Health Initiatives
to tackle AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, as well as civil society
organisations. EU assistance will "contribute directly or
indirectly to the entire spectrum of health services offered by
partner countries, which may or may not include abortion-related
services to save the mother's life", but the Commission adds:
"This comprehensive EU support
contributes substantively to a reduction in the number of abortions
because it increases access to safe and quality services, including
good quality family planning, a broad range of contraceptive methods,
emergency contraception and comprehensive sexual education."[48]
9.11 Whilst there have been "impressive
gains" in contraceptive use, the Commission says that a substantial
number of women die every year as a result of abortions performed
in unsafe or unsanitary conditions and cites WHO data which indicate
that maternal deaths and illness can be dramatically reduced by
improving the safety of abortion-related services.
9.12 During the period 2008-12, the
Commission notes that the EU spent ?3.2 billion of development
funding on the health sector, of which ?1.5 billion was dedicated
to maternal, new-born and child health, with ?87 million spent
on reproductive health care, ?17 million on family planning, and
?95 million on controlling sexually transmitted diseases.
9.13 The Commission concludes that no
changes are required to existing EU legislation governing the
expenditure of the EU budget and EU funding for research and for
development assistance. It says that the EU Financial Regulation
already requires all EU expenditure to comply with the EU Treaties
and the EU Charter, including respect for human dignity, the right
to life, and the right to the integrity of the person. It notes
that the Horizon 2020 and Development Cooperation Instrument Regulations
were based on extensive consultation and democratic approval by
the European Parliament and the Council and incorporate stringent
safeguards and conditionalities.
The Minister's Explanatory Memorandum of 25 June
2014
9.14 The Minister for Universities and
Science (Mr David Willetts) expresses the Government's support
for the stance taken by the Commission. He sets out the Government's
position in the following terms:
"Stem cell research offers
enormous potential to deliver new treatments for diseases as diverse
as Parkinson's, diabetes and heart disease. It is far too early
to know where useful results will come from; a position supported
by published scientific findings.
"We anticipate significant
progress over the next few years using a range of cell types including
human embryonic stem cells, induced Pluripotent Stem cells (iPS
cells), direct reprogramming of different cells, adult stem cell
trials as well as in gene therapies. Research is also being carried
out on stem cell transplantation to combat retinitis pigmentosa
and age-related macular degeneration, which are the leading causes
of blindness.
"Embryonic stem cells are still
needed for research even though there are other sources of cells
because it is not yet clear that adult stem cells will
be the best approach in all cases. Enabling scientists to work
on all forms of stem cells can help accelerate the process in
finding alternatives to embryonic stem cells where appropriate.
"In the UK, research involving
the use of live human embryos cannot take place without a licence
from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended (1990
Act), under which licences are granted, sets strict controls on
the use of human embryos in research. Before granting the research
project a licence, the HFEA must be satisfied that any proposed
use of embryos (or human admixed embryos) is necessary for the
purposes of the research and that the research is necessary or
desirable for any of the principle purposes set out in the Act.
"Licensed research can only
take place on embryos created in vitro (IVF embryos), for up to
14 days after creation or the appearance of the primitive streak,
whichever is the earlier. If a patient no longer wants to use
their embryos for treatment they can be donated for the treatment
of others or for research but only with the patients' (or the
gamete providers if different) clearly expressed, written consent.
"Horizon 2020, the EU's new
funding programme for research and innovation continues a compromise
approach agreed by Member States in previous programmes which
permits EU funding for research involving stem cells in those
Member States where this is allowed by national law, subject to
clear ethical review provisions.
"The proposition that 'the
assistance of the Union, on the basis of this Regulation, shall
not be used to fund abortion, directly or indirectly, through
the funding of organizations that encourage or promote abortion'
risks hampering international efforts to save lives in developing
countries.
"This proposition not only
restricts safe abortion funding - it restricts all funding to
organisations that fund abortion. So organisations that provide
a broad range of health services to the world's poor would not
be eligible for EU funding if they also offer safe abortion services.
47,000 women a year die through unsafe abortions and over 8 million
suffer illness and injury requiring hospital care.
"Women and adolescent girls
must have the right to make their own decisions about their sexual
and reproductive health and well-being, and be able to choose
whether, when and how many children to have.
"We do not promote abortion
as a method of family planning - indeed we are working to increase
access to modern methods of family planning (which would ultimately
reduce demand for abortion).
"Safe abortion reduces recourse
to unsafe abortion thus saving maternal lives and preventing serious
injuries to women and girls.
"We do not enter the ring on
the rights and wrongs of abortion, but where abortion is permitted,
we can support programmes that make safe abortion more accessible.
"Where access to safe abortion
is highly restricted and maternal mortality and morbidity are
high, we can help make the consequences of unsafe abortion more
widely understood, and can consider supporting processes of legal
and policy reform."[49]
9.15 The Minister agrees with the Commission's
assessment of the ruling of the Court of Justice in the Brüstle
case which was cited by the organisers of the 'One of Us' initiative
to support their proposition that the EU should not provide support
for the use of human embryos in scientific research.[50]
He adds:
"The Brüstle judgement
is explicit that the purpose of the EU legislation considered
by the Court (Directive 98/44/EC) is not to regulate the use of
human embryos in the context of scientific research. This Directive
is limited to the patenting of biotechnological inventions. It
is not directed to questions of whether research can be carried
out and whether it can be funded.
"The Brüstle judgement
is clear that its legal interpretation is based on the context
and aims of the Directive itself. Consequently, it is inappropriate
to extrapolate the Brüstle ruling to other EU legislation
that goes beyond patent law to areas that concern research, development
and public health."[51]
9.16 The Minister does not expect there
to be any Council discussion of the Commission Communication.
Previous Committee Reports
None.
44 See Article 11(4) of the Treaty on European Union,
Article 24 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
and Regulation 211/2011 on the citizens' initiative, OJ No. L
65, 11.03.11, pp.1-22. The Regulation stipulates a minimum number
of signatories per Member State to ensure that the citizens' initiative
is genuinely representative. Back
45
The minimum threshold in the UK is 54,750 signatories - more than
double the actual number (26,298) achieved in the UK. See ADD 1
for the figures for other Member States. Back
46
See p.2 of the Communication. Back
47
See http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-608_en.htm Back
48
See p.16 of the Communication. Back
49
See para 12 of the Minister's Explanatory Memorandum. Back
50
Case C-34/10, Brüstle v Greenpeace. Para 40 of the
judgment states that "the purpose of the Directive is not
to regulate the use of human embryos in the context of scientific
research. It is limited to the patentability of biotechnological
inventions". Back
51
See para 13 of the Minister's Explanatory Memorandum. Back
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