Buttiglione (PPE-DE). – (IT) Mr President, the public alarm at the granting of this patent is, I feel, totally justified. In the first place, at this stage, it is in the general interest to avoid patents being issued on human chromosomes, in order not to close any doors to the endeavours of scientific research to find new treatment methods and to use knowledge gained about the human genome to improve health, which is an end that should be placed over and above the albeit legitimate protection of the economic interests of researchers.

Secondly, there is a deficiency in the law: it is not possible for the European Patent Office not to have any links with the Commission or be part of the structure of the European Union.

Thirdly and most importantly, we are considering an issue which is at the very root of our civilisation. Christianity has taught us the value of the dignity of every human being; the tradition of the left enshrines the concept that the human person, man, is not a commodity and cannot be treated as such. Well, we are now clearly running the risk of turning human beings into commodities, at least in part, and this affects the very roots of our civilisation – in terms of Christianity and also of the enlightenment and Marxism. We must be united, determined and resolute in our reaction, remembering that the embryo is a unique human being. Whatever our attitude to abortion, even those of us who consider abortion to be lawful have always agreed on one point: the right of the mother prevails over the right of the embryo, but the right of the embryo does exist. It yields solely and exclusively before the right of the mother, not before the right of a multinational to make money.