Michael Fuchs National ethics councils - Deutscher Ethikrat

Michael Fuchs National ethics councils. Their backgrounds, functions and modes of operation compared
institutions has manifestly resulted in discontinuity, even if this does not emerge
from the official documents. Observers report that the beginning of Silvio Berlusconi’s
first term in government represented a caesura in the Bioethics Committee as
elsewhere in Italy (Lenoir, 20).
Since its foundation, the National Committee has on a number of occasions considered
the situation of the local ethics commissions. It has also discussed the Convention
presented by the Council of Europe and its additional protocols. Its recent
deliberations on embryo research and therapeutic cloning compete with those of
other bodies. The fundamental consensus that early human life deserves particular
protection, which unites the Committee notwithstanding major differences, led to
the adoption of cautious recommendations in relation to health policy, which met
with criticism in the Ministry of Health. For this reason, in September 2000, the Ministry
appointed the Commissione Cellule Staminali, chaired by the Nobel Laureate
Renato Dulbecco, to examine some important aspects of this issue. The question of
the status of the embryo was subordinated to scientific expectations and therapeutic
hopes. The 25-member commission, made up of scientists and ethicists, took a much
more positive view, and adopted a much more liberal attitude, than the National
Bioethics Committee. The Committee has recently considered the subject of nicotine
addiction. It calls for the abandonment of tobacco cultivation in favour of other agricultural
products.
Website
CNB: http://www.governo.it/bioetica
Bibliography
Lenoir, N. (1997). Nationale Ethikkommissionen in Europa – Möglichkeiten und Grenzen. In: Friedrich-Ebert-
Stiftung (ed.). Braucht Deutschland eine Bundes-Ethik-Kommission? – Dokumentation des Expertengesprächs
Gentechnik am 11. März in Bonn. Bonn: 5 – 27.
Maio, G. (2001). Die ethische Diskussion um embryonale Stammzellen aus internationaler Sicht – das Beispiel
Italien. Zeitschrift für medizinische Ethik 47/3: 299 – 309.
Wray, E. (2000). Ethics Committees in Italy – A Time for Change? Bulletin of Medical Ethics & EACME
News 160: 13 – 16.
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Portugal
The Conselho Nacional de Etica para as Ciências da Vida (CNECV) was established
by a law of 9 June 1990. Although an independent body, it is linked to the office of
the President of the Council of Ministers. Its function is systematic analysis of the
moral problems posed by scientific progress in the field of biology, medicine and
general healthcare. It is required to furnish an annual report to the President of the
Council of Ministers on the status of new technologies and their application to human
subjects, as well as the associated ethical and social problems, and to draw up
recommendations on these problems.
The Council’s President is appointed by the President of Council of Ministers. Article
3 of the Law provides that the Council shall have another 20 members, of whom
seven must be distinguished in the humanities and social sciences and have shown
particular interest in ethical problems, while seven others must be experienced in
medicine or biology, including the ethical implications of these disciplines. Finally,
six members representing the principal faiths and ethical philosophies are appointed
by the National Assembly. Of the seven representatives of the humanities, four are appointed
by Ministers (of Planning, Justice, Education and Youth) and the others by
the Conference of University Rectors, the Law Society and the Council for Women’s
Issues. Responsibility for appointing the medical experts and biologists rests with the
Minister of Health, the Conference of University Rectors, the Academy of Sciences,
the Medical Association, the National Institute of Scientific Research, the National
Commission on Scientific and Technological Research and the Higher Council on
Forensic Medicine. As in France, the Council appoints a ten-member coordinating
committee from among its members and may establish working parties.
The right of referral is not confined to the institutions of state but extends far beyond
them. Article 11 of the founding law already provides for regular conferences to
ensure ongoing dialogue with the public. Even so, the Council itself admits to difficulties
precisely in communication with the media, at least in the initial phase. The
Council is dependent for administrative and financial resources on the Office of the
President of the Council of Ministers, to which it is institutionally subordinated and
whose premises it shares. The Law provides for the establishment of a documentation
centre to support the Council in its work. However, the centre is appreciably
smaller than its counterpart in Paris at INSERM.
Over the last 13 years, the Council has compiled reports and adopted positions on
almost all issues of biomedical ethics. It meets once a month in plenary session, and
a number of working parties also hold meetings. The Council is in addition free to
comment on issues that are already regulated by law. For this reason, it also considers
itself responsible for monitoring ethical standards (National Council, 8). Despite
the relatively small scale of biomedical research in Portugal, the CNECV has issued a
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