EU ministers to decide on stem cell research funding

European Union ministers were to decide today whether to continue to use EU funds to finance human embryonic stem cell research under current rules, less than a week after President George Bush vetoed US legislation that would have increased federal spending on such research.

A group of countries led by Germany and Poland have lobbied hard to outlaw the use of EU money for human embryonic stem cell research or to substantially limit such funding, which is included in the EU’s proposed €51bn research budget for 2007-2013.