One of us (citizens' initiative)

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One of us ( English One of us ) is a citizens' initiative . It was registered in 2012. She works to ensure that the protection of human embryos is enforced in accordance with EU law. The initiative aims to ensure that the European Union no stem cell research funded more, are used in the embryos for scientific research. The subscription deadline was November 1, 2013. By November 1, 2013, the proposal for a legal act formulated by the citizens' initiative had 1,897,588 signatures.

The initiators refer to a supreme court decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) of October 18, 2011, which, according to the initiators, declares every human embryo to be worthy of protection due to human dignity.

The initiative's coordinators are the German political scientist Tobias Teuscher as contact person for Europe and Hedwig von Beverfoerde and Manfred Libner as contact person for Germany. The initiative is based in Berlin . All representatives of the governing body belong to the right to life movement .

On May 28, 2014, after a meeting with representatives of the citizens' initiative, the European Commission decided "not to submit a legislative proposal, as the Member States and the European Parliament have only recently discussed and decided on EU policy in this area".

issue

The Lisbon Treaty introduced a new direct democratic element for EU citizens, namely the possibility of a so-called European citizens' initiative ( Art. 11 Para. 4 EU Treaty): The EU Commission must deal with an issue if in Europe ( according to a certain key; details below) one million signatures were collected on a topic.

In 2011, on the initiative of Greenpeace , the European Court of Justice ruled that a process may not be patented if human embryos are destroyed in the process ( Brüstle judgment ). The European Citizens' Initiative One of us demands "that this fundamental judgment [...] is implemented in all perspectives." The judgment of the European Court of Justice only rejected the patentability of relevant developments, but not research with human embryos.

The initiative calls for "legal protection of the dignity, the right to life and the integrity of every human person from the time of conception."

The core requirements of the concern include: “The dignity of the human embryo must be respected and its integrity must be ensured. This emerges from the decision of the ECJ in the Brüstle case, in which the embryo is recognized as the first stage of human development. Therefore, in order to ensure the coherence of its policies in all areas in which the life of the human embryo is at stake, the EU should seek funding for all activities (in particular in research, development policy and public health) that involve the destruction of human embryos presuppose, prevent. "

Criticism is made of the financing of the technology in question from tax revenues. Such released funds could flow back into the reserve budget of the EU Commission. According to Teuscher, it is 144 million euros that were set as part of the seventh framework research program.

The two main demands of One of Us are (as of September 2013):

  • Stop EU funding for research using embryonic stem cells and clones as well
  • no financial support for abortion as a means of population control and family planning under the (euphemistically criticized) concept of “sexual and reproductive health” in public health and development aid.

Quorums

The initiative was registered on May 11, 2012 in Italian as Uno di noi . There were twelve months from the time of confirmation in which to collect the required number of statements of support. A total of one million votes were required, with a minimum of seven in at least seven Member States. 74,250 signatories were required for Germany . The end of the collection period was November 1, 2013.

On September 12, 2013, one million signatures had been collected; the quorum was reached in Germany, France , Italy , Lithuania , the Netherlands , Austria , Poland , Romania , Slovakia , Spain and Hungary .

supporter

Representatives of the Roman Catholic Church welcomed the initiative, including Pope Benedict XVI, who has been retired in March 2013 . and Pope Francis . The Catholic German Bishops' Conference itself does not call for signatures, as it does not fundamentally support any signature campaigns. In Germany, however, the majority of the Catholic bishops support the initiative, including the Cologne Cardinal Joachim Meisner , the Archbishop of Berlin, Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki, the Eichstatter Bishop Gregor Maria Hanke and the Augsburg Auxiliary Bishop Anton Losinger , who is also a member of the German Ethics Council . The Presidium of the Central Committee of German Catholics also supports "the concern of the initiators to promote the protection of life on a European level".

The Association of Evangelical Free Churches (VEF) supports the initiative. The board of the VEF invites all Christians in the member churches to sign and collect signatures. The following are also named as supporters: the philosopher Robert Spaemann , the former Federal Constitutional Judge Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde , the Vice-Rector of the Free Theological University Gießen Stephan Holthaus and the General Secretary of the German Evangelical Alliance Hartmut Steeb . The leadership of the Salvation Army in Germany, Lithuania and Poland supports the citizens' initiative.

The initiative is supported by politicians from various parties, for example Hubert Hüppe ( CDU ), Federal Government Commissioner for the Disabled , Robert Antretter from the SPD and Peter Liese , the health policy spokesman for the EPP . Liese explained: "If a technology cannot be patented for reasons of the protection of human dignity, then the EU should not subsidize this technology from tax revenues either." Hüppe emphasized that the attitude of the initiative was also in line with the politics of the German government (at that time Merkel II cabinet ) correspond.

Martin Kastler , MEP (CSU) and vice-president of the Intergroup Working Group Bioethics in the European Parliament, received representatives of the European citizens' initiative in Brussels . As one of the first MEPs, Kastler stood behind the initiative: "It is impressive the commitment with which citizens from all over Europe - especially young people - have committed themselves to the success of the citizens' initiative."

In the UK, the initiative received support from CARE International and the late Archbishop of Southwark, Peter Smith .

Effects

The aim of the initiative was jeopardized in October 2013 by a recommendation for a resolution (supported by Planned Parenthood) for the EU Parliament, which aimed to enforce the previously non-existent “right to abortion” across Europe ( resolution A7-0306 / 2013 ). The petition, in turn, with its 1.4 million supporters at the time, possibly influenced the referral of this proposal back to the Women's and Equal Opportunities Committee of the EU Parliament.

According to the life rights organization European Dignity Watch, the implementation of the concern would have withdrawn the EU funding for their abortion programs from the Marie Stopes International and International Planned Parenthood Federation .

On April 9 and 10, 2014, the Commission received representatives of the initiative in Brussels. A public hearing was held with representatives of the Commission and members of the European Parliament. On May 28, 2014, the European Commission decided not to submit a legislative proposal in response to the One Of Us European citizens' initiative.

critic

The European Humanist Federation positioned itself against the initiative and justified this with two points. On the one hand, the initiative called for a “ban on EU funds for research with human embryonic stem cells”, although this research could “help cure a number of degenerative diseases (e.g. Parkinson's, Huntington's and Alzheimer's diseases, Diabetes and heart failure). ”On the other hand, she called for a“ ban on EU funds for non-governmental organizations that provide services for sexual and reproductive health and rights ( SRHR ) for women in developing countries ”, although these services“ save lives and reduce poverty and improve women's control over their sexuality and their bodies ”.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Keyword embryo protection , in: Rheinische Post of September 13, 2013.
  2. ↑ One million signatures for embryo protection in the EU | Citizens' petition wants to restrict stem cell research , in: Hamburger Abendblatt from September 13, 2013.
  3. ↑ http://www.hss.de/fileadmin/media/downloads/Berichte/130923_News_aus_Bruessel.pdf
  4. ↑ a b Judgment of the Court of Justice in the Oliver Brüstle v Greenpeace e. V. on: InfoCuria website - case law of the Court of Justice , October 18, 2011.
  5. ↑ a b c d Jürgen Liminski: Teuscher: "One of us" initiative is taken seriously in Brussels | Petition against EU funds for stem cell research reaches minimum number of signatures (interview with Tobias Teuscher, coordinator of the petition), on: Deutschlandfunk on September 28, 2013.
  6. ↑ EU initiative wants to protect embryos , in: Medienmagazin pro from July 9, 2013.
  7. ↑ EU citizens' initiative: "Right to life from conception". on: diestandard.at , January 11, 2013.
  8. ↑ a b European Citizens' Initiative: European Commission's response to the “One of Us” initiative . European Commission press release; Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  9. ↑ Nina Weber: Basic judgment: European court forbids patents on embryonic stem cells , in: Spiegel online from October 18, 2011.
  10. ↑ The European Citizens' Initiative - Title . European Commission website .
  11. ↑ What is the main goal of the ONE OF US citizens' initiative? , on: website of the citizens' initiative
  12. ↑ BBC May 23, 2012: EU direct democracy: Cows, texts and stem cell research
  13. ^ The European Citizens' Initiative - The procedure step by step , on: website of the European Commission
  14. ↑ The European Citizens' Initiative - minimum number of signatories per Member State , on: European Commission website
  15. ↑ Double breakthrough in the EU citizens' initiative against embryo attempts ( memento from September 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), on: dpa newsroom from September 12, 2013.
  16. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  17. ↑ http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/historic-pro-life-petition-close-to-igniting-eu-abortion-debate
  18. ↑ a b Christoph Scholz (KNA): Citizens' initiative wants to strengthen embryo protection: "One of us" , on: Domradio from July 13, 2013.
  19. ↑ Citizens' Initiative One of Us , on: Website of the Mülheim Association of Free Church Evangelical Congregations from July 18, 2013.
  20. ↑ The Salvation Army supports the European citizens' initiative “One of us” , on: Salvation Army website of July 17, 2013.
  21. ^ Parliamentarians for EU citizens' initiative on embryo protection , in: Deutsches Ärzteblatt (online) from July 9, 2013.
  22. ^ Parliamentarians for EU citizens' initiative on embryo protection , in: Deutsches Ärzteblatt (online) from July 9, 2013.
  23. ↑ "Impressive commitment": MEP Martin Kastler solicits further support for EINER VON UNS on: website of the citizens' initiative of 9 September 2013.
  24. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  25. ^ Southwark Peter Smith
  26. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  27. ↑ http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/eu-may-declare-abortion-human-right
  28. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/feb/06/eu-aid-family-planning-criticised
  29. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from September 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), p. 17
  30. ↑ http://ekd.be/mitteilung-1ofus
  31. ↑ http://www.ekd.be/comece-1ofusv
  32. ↑ http://hpd.de/node/16751