Introductory text

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Whereas:

Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union enshrines the values on which the Union is founded and Article 6 accords the Charter of Fundamental Rights the same legal value as the Treaties and establishes that fundamental rights shall constitute general principles of Union law.

On 20 November 1991, the European Commission decided to incorporate ethics into the decision-making process for Community research and technological development policies by setting up the Group of Advisers on the Ethical Implications of Biotechnology (‘GAEIB’).

The Commission decided on 16 December 1997 to replace the GAEIB by the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (‘EGE’) extending the Group's mandate to cover all areas of the application of science and technology. The EGE's mandate was subsequently renewed, most recently by the Commission Decision 2010/1/EU^f1. It is now appropriate to renew the mandate for a period of 5 years and subsequently to appoint the new members.

The EGE is tasked with providing ethical guidance to the European Commission either at the request of the Commission or on its own initiative and upon agreement with the Commission. The Commission may draw the EGE's attention to issues considered by the European Parliament and the Council to be of major ethical importance.

Rules on disclosure of information by members of the group should be laid down.

Personal data should be processed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f2.

Decision 2010/1/EU should be repealed,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: