France

THE EUROPEAN UNION agreed with Great Britain's regulations except on the creation of embryos: Article 18 of the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine prohibits creation of human embryos for research purposes. Therapeutic cloning is illegal in Germany, Austria, Portugal, Ireland, Norway, and Poland. The Netherlands, which is politically liberal, included a ban in 2003. The Council of Europe—Comprising 15 European Union member states and more than 40 countries, including Russia and Turkey—Adopted a Convention on Biomedicine that prohibits the creation of embryos for research purposes. Stem cell research in France is able to progress as a result of government support with appropriate legislation and funding, strong scientific research foundation, public support of biomédical research, and international cooperative relationships and partnerships.

Human embryonic stem cell research is permitted under the Bioethics Law approved in February [Page 212]2006. The guidelines under this legislation require five—year licenses for the import of human embryonic stem cell lines derived from leftover embryos created for in vitro fertilization, and the law allows French—based researchers to also create stem cell lines from embryos created for in vitro fertilization in France. Researchers may develop research proposals and carry out approved research under the jurisdiction of the Biomedicine Agency, looking to them for authorization and to ensure compliance. For embryos to be used for research, consent must be received from the persons for whom the embryos were created. However, French law prohibits the creation of human embryos specifically for research including procurement of human embryonic stem cells, and also prohibits reproductive and therapeutic cloning.

The French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) was established in 1964, taking over the work of the French National Institute of Hygiene. The work of INSERM falls under the joint auspices of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research. The mission of this public agency is to ensure cooperation and collaboration among scientists in all fields related to human health by advancing knowledge and clinical therapies through the formation of National Research Programs begun in 2004 in cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, bone and joint diseases, human nutrition, imagery, and alcohol.

Involving basic, clinical, therapeutic, and public health research, National Research Programs are organized by three groups: a steering committee (made up of experts in the area of interest) to determine the scope of research and request proposals, the Strategic Orientation Committee (made up of stakeholders who choose to be involved in helping develop, support, and evaluate the program's research), and the Scientific Council (made up of international experts selected by the steering committee), to choose research projects for funding including those for stem cell research.

To fulfill this mission, the institute has worked in close partnership with other public or private research institutions and care centers such as hospitals. Today, the majority (85 percent) of INSERM's more than 300 research laboratories are housed within university hospital or cancer treatment centers, with the others being located on the research campuses of the CNRS (French scientific research institute) or of the Pasteur and Curie Institutes.

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