Commission launches biotechnology policy to boost drive towards Lisbon goals
On 23 January, the European Commission launched a comprehensive plan for the development of life sciences and biotechnology in Europe in order to boost the EU's progress towards a knowledge-based society. The new strategy paper, drawn up following broad public consultation, includes an action plan with recommendations for Member States, local authorities and industry. It will form a key strand of the Commission's contribution to the Barcelona European Council in March 2002, which will examine progress, two years on, towards the Lisbon summit goal of making Europe the world's most competitive knowledge-based society. The President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, said: 'It is of key importance for Europe to master the new frontier technologies which will be at the core of a knowledge-based economy. Life sciences and biotechnology are developing rapidly and globally and have given rise to intense public debate. Europe needs to address the challenges of biotech by developing responsible policies to exploit these new opportunities in a manner that is consistent with European values and standards.' He added that a 'commitment to fundamental ethical values' would be crucial in helping to foster public support for biotechnology developments. The main priorities of the biotechnology action plan include measures to reinforce the resources available to Europe's biotechnology industry by, for example, improving life science education, promoting the mobility of Europe's scientists and improving access to risk capital and intellectual property rights. The strategy also proposes networking Europe's biotechnology communities to improve access to knowledge and skills, and calls for public authorities to take a more proactive role in adapting policy to emerging issues. The paper calls for a broadening of the public debate beyond the issues of stem cell research and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). It said that during the public consultation, all stakeholders emphasised the importance of public involvement in the process of preparing and implementing policy on these new technologies and maintaining a well-informed public debate on the issues raised. The paper also states that, in order to safeguard EU internal market and international obligations, fundamental regulatory principles and legal obligations should be respected. The Commission has said it will present a regular Life science and biotechnology report, including a work programme for legislation in this area. The reports will review EU policy and legislation and launch new proposals where needed. The Commission will also organise a stakeholders' forum to maintain a broad-based input into the dialogue on developing the biotechnology strategy. The Commission has pinpointed biotechnology and life sciences as the next wave of technological revolution after information technology, and sees it as a key strategic area in attaining the goal set out at the March 2000 Lisbon summit. It says that by 2005, the European biotechnology market could be worth over 100 billion euro. The new plan also hopes to tackle the weaker position of European biotechnology in relation to the USA. Although Europe currently has more biotech companies than America, these enterprises tend to be smaller and have fewer staff and resources than their counterparts across the Atlantic. The US biotech industry, which started earlier than in Europe, also has a greater number of potential products in the pipeline. 'In the absence of a shared vision of what is at stake and without common objectives, Europe...has only slowly and with difficulty addressed the challenges and opportunities of these new technologies,' said the Commission, which has proposed to spend 2.15 billion euro on biotechnology under the next Framework programme for research, FP6.