Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-11-17-Speech-1-063"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2003-11-17"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Integrating and strengthening the European research area (2002-2006)2
dcterms:Language	"it"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20031117.6.1-063"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2003-11-17-Speech-1-0642
lpv:speaker	lp:Giuseppe Gargani2
lpv:spokenAs	member; Conference of Committee Chairs (2002-01-21--2004-07-19)3 chair; Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market (2002-01-21--2004-07-19)3 unknown; Forza Italia (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 member_of_the_bureau; EPP-ED (2002-03-08--2004-07-19)3 member; Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (2002-02-07--2004-07-19)3 substitute; Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs (2002-01-17--2004-07-19)3
lpv:translated text	". Mr President, I would like to make two points, one of a moral nature and one of a legal nature, in this debate on a very sensitive issue, and link the two questions together. Embryos are human beings in their own right: this is now a certainty, and it is a certainty that we want to stress with all our might. The Nice Charter of Fundamental Rights recognises the dignity of these rights – physical and psychological integrity – and there is therefore a moral obligation to protect embryos as human beings, irrespective of how they have been created. It therefore follows that experimentation is only justified when carried out in the interests of the individual or embryos in question, and there are no justifications or extenuating circumstances, which could serve to balance out the interests of the individual, the fundamental rights of the individual, and the interests of society. The issue goes beyond this kind of balancing out process because the protection of inalienable and fundamental rights certainly takes precedence. Thus, destructive experimentation is out of the question and, consequently, public funding is out of the question for experimentation which only endorses the line that embryos are a set of cells with no intrinsic value, with no bioethical value as human life. Stem cells, on the other hand, can be removed, as we have heard, from the umbilical chord or from spontaneously aborted foetuses of adult cells for use in the treatment of serious illnesses. Thus, moral responsibility dictates that we opt for this kind of investigation, these types of treatment. There are, however, more than just moral arguments; these moral arguments give rise to legal arguments, which the committee of which I have the honour of being chairman has pointed out and brought to Parliament’s attention. The Union respects national identity, and so I am pleased to hear the rapporteur say that we are not going to diminish Member States’ legislation or cultural diversity. Community law takes precedence over internal law and, therefore, over the basic law of the Member States. Community law, despite the fact that it takes precedence in other sectors, cannot exist in all areas of general law because there is a limit, as the Constitutional Courts – of Italy, Germany and many other countries – have said repeatedly, for fundamental rights must be respected and take precedence. Therefore, there is clearly no question of blanket Community funding – and we focused on this point in the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market. I am speaking in this Chamber today in support of this line."@en1

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