the ethical review of research funded under the seventh framework programme is a system that safeguards the protection of fundamental rights and respect for ethical principles
in the case of research involving the use of human embryonic stem cells the procedure consists of five steps including the scientific evaluation the ethical screening and review the national local ethics committees approval for the proposed research and the submission of the proposals to a regulatory committee so this relates to which project we decide on a single project basis
in july two thousand and seven the european group on ethics also delivered an opinion to the commission on ethics reviews of seventh framework programme research projects using human embryonic stem cells
in following the above steps the commission considers that the established ethical review mechanism has been successful in implementing the relevant ec provisions
in particular as all research activities that involve the destruction of human embryos are excluded from the scope of the community funding no research proposals in this area have been funded under the seventh framework programme
the ethical review is meant to verify that no eu funding is granted to research activities involving the destruction of human embryos
in this sense it is an integral part of the whole implementation of the framework programme
