Munich

The German parliament last week ended 18 months of controversy by deciding to set up an all-parliamentary commission d'enquête (commission of inquiry) on the ethical and legal aspects of biomedicine.

Opponents of such a commission had included Wolf-Michael Catenhusen, the biotechnology-friendly Social Democrat (SPD) secretary of research. He had feared that it would lead to cumbersome discussions of first principles that might delay legislation to bring the regulation of German biomedicine into line with the rest of Europe (see Nature 402 , 331–332; 1999).

But the Greens — together with much of the media and the German public — had accused opponents of the commission of attempting to curtail political discussion about the ethical and social implications of biomedical and biotechnological progress.

Last week's compromise follows a reduction and streamlining of the inquiry panel's tasks. For example, the question of whether Germany should ratify the Council of Europe's Convention on Human Rights, which sets minimum ethical standards for European countries — but which Germany opposed because some clauses conflict with Germany's more restrictive national rules — has been removed from the agenda.

Catenhusen welcomes the compromise. “I am optimistic that the commission will focus on really important issues, such as therapeutic cloning, now that we have turned away from setting up a combat group committed to fighting the Council of Europe Convention,” he says.

The commission's purpose is now described as being to “work out recommendations for ethical assessment … and for legislative and administrative action related to future medical opportunities”. It will identify areas in which recent scientific developments have exposed a lack of appropriate legal rules, for example in stem-cell research or genetic testing.

Monika Knoche, the Green party's expert on medical ethics, says that genetic screening and reproductive technologies head the party's agenda for the commission.

The panel is scheduled to begin work next month, when its members — including 13 members of parliament and an equal number of external experts — will be nominated. It is not expected to include those holding ‘extreme’ positions. According to Catenhusen, this will reduce the chances of conflict found in the initial proposal, which would have included members known for their unwillingness to compromise.

Commissions d'enquête provide policy advice and prepare the introduction or modification of legislation. They are thus required to deliver final reports well before the end of a legislative period — a demand that, in the past, not all of them have been able to meet.