Background
Science is rapidly advancing and will continue to change
society profoundly. New products and services resulting
from research and technological development will touch
on ethical values and must respect the integrity, the
dignity and the privacy of the people addressed. Ethical
issues are therefore integral components of a responsible
use of research and medical practices.
The integration of ethics into the research practices is generally
accepted and implemented across the world, but it has
a particular importance in the European Union (EU), where
a common set of basic shared values exists, as embodied
in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. However,
ethical pluralism and the principle of subsidiarity characterise
the EU. Such pluralism reflects the richness of its traditions
and entails an additional need for mutual respect and
tolerance. Respect for the different ethical and cultural
approaches is implicit in the ethical dimension of building
a Europe-wide democratic society.
Science and Society
The Commission’s Science and Society Action Plan of December
2001 and the 6th Community Research Framework
Programme underline the need to establish public dialogues
on new technologies at the European level and to integrate
ethics into the research practices. Networking, dialogue
platform and promotion of research on ethics are some
examples of tools to implement this goal. In particular,
Action 32 of the Science & Society Action Plan foresees
the establishment of networks between local ethics committees
and states: “Networks of Local Ethics Committees will
allow an exchange of views on minimum standards and would
promote the best practices in the evaluation of research
projects.”
Scope of the conference
Various national systems of research ethics committees
operating at different levels have been established in
the 25 Member States. Research ethics bodies have also
been established in other countries in the European Research
Area (ERA). As committees are working independently, their
methods of operation vary widely within each country and
from country to country.
Within this framework, the conference “Research Ethics
Committees in Europe: facing the future together”
focuses on those research ethics committees (RECs) which
evaluate any type of research protocols involving human
beings and which are located in one of the 25 Member States,
the Four candidate countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania
and Turkey) or one of the other countries associated with
the 6th Community Research Framework Programme (Iceland,
Israel, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland).
The regulatory framework existing at national and European
level does require that research activities do not contravene
fundamental ethical principles. But further efforts are
needed to promote pan-European dialogue, better awareness-raising,
networking and understanding between researchers, regulators
and ethicists; effective and more consistent ethical evaluation
of research at local, national, European and international
levels, which also takes account of cultural differences.
This effort can favour the responsible use of research
across the EU, in the name of pluralism and diversity,
but also in the name of an approach where science and
ethics are interconnected, where dialogue, tolerance and
mutual learning are seen as pragmatic steps to take to
achieve the goals above.
This conference intended to open such a debate and thus aimed
at gathering together as many RECs as possible in order
to identify the state of the art. Good practices, obstacles
and pitfalls were considered, thus leading to the identification
of future initiatives, actions and activities.
Structure of the conference
27 January 2005
Morning Plenary
session
Afternoon Four workshops (1st part) and
1 plenary session
28 January 2005
Morning Plenary session & Four workshops (2
nd
part)
Afternoon Report of the workshops (2nd part)
and plenary session
Four workshops worked in parallel and in two
parts, one on the first day and the other on the second
day. On the first day, the sessions focused on the exchange
of information and good practices, but also tried to highlight
possible obstacles and pitfalls. On the second day, building
upon the conclusions of the first day, workshop participants
attempted to propose new ideas, actions and activities
that could be beneficial for the work of RECs and also
contribute to finding solutions for the obstacles and
pitfalls identified.