EU seeks public input on new biotech strategy
Date: 06-Sep-01
Country: EU
The EU executive plans to unveil a wide-ranging policy initiative at the end of the year.
"It is of strategic and long-term importance that Europe master the new frontier technologies, in particular the life sciences and biotechnology, and use them for the benefit of society," Commission President Romano Prodi said.
The Commission said it needed an overall approach to a sector that affects health care, agriculture, the environment and energy production.
The public consultation will take the form of questions posted on the EU executive's web site, inviting comments from industry, consumer groups and individuals on issues ranging from genetically modified (GM) foods to stem cell research.
The Commission will also host a conference on September 27-28, bringing together interested parties.
It said the policy would embrace the ethical, social and economic aspects of technologies "fundamental to the transition towards a knowledge based and sustainable economy".
"It should help us all develop coherent approaches that meet our fundamental objectives and concerns. We want to hear in particular from the ultimate decision makers - the citizens, consumers and patients," Prodi said in a statement.
The Commission wants to build as wide a consensus as possible on how it should proceed in what it called the "life science and biotechnology revolution".
Its proposals on the labelling of GM foods, unveiled in July, promise to create strict controls over such produce but have been criticised by some trade partners as unworkable.
