Ethical dilemma could delay FP6

Researchers have been told to carry on putting together proposals for the European Union's Sixth Research Framework Programme despite a row over ethics that is threatening to delay the programme.

Last week, the European Parliament's industry committee voted against the second draft of the FP6 legislation. It also voted to ban research activity aimed at "human cloning for reproductive purposes, creation of embryos for research purposes including somatic cell nuclear transfer and research activity resulting in a modification of the genetic heritage of human beings" from funding under FP6.

This could mean that final approval for the €16.2 billion (£10 billion) programme being pushed into September.

The original ethics statement in the FP6 legislation was drafted with the intention of accommodating the positions of all member states. But German and Austrian MEPs are digging in their heels over stem-cell research, which is illegal in those countries.

The EU wants FP6 to be more focused than the previous programme, concentrating funds into fewer research areas and into larger projects that must be inter-European collaborations.

A spokesman for the UK Research Office in Brussels said: "This delay has no immediate implications for UK researchers working on expressions of interest or future proposals. They should continue to prepare these."