'Gain-of-function' research and EU relationship with the Wuhan Institute of Virology
14.6.2021
Question for written answer E-003103/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Charlie Weimers (ECR)
In its answer to Written Question E-005649/2020, the Commission confirmed that the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) – where the COVID-19 virus is reported to have originated[1][2][3] – benefited from EU funding in 2015 and 2019[4]. An EU delegation also visited the virology lab for the launch of its ‘high-risk pathogen biosafety research facility’ in 2015[5].
The Wuhan Institute of Virology received EUR 73 375 (2015) and EUR 88 436 (2019) as grants from the EU budget for participation in two Horizon 2020 research projects in relation to the European Virus Archive (EVA).
The virology institute is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which is governed by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China[6].
- 1.Has the Commission finalised and published the interim report it requested in relation to the second grant, following ‘a lack of communication by WIV [that] was observed in the period from February to October 2020’, and if not, when does it expect to do so?
- 2.Keeping in mind that all funds are fungible[7] and the opaque nature of Communist regimes, how certain can the Commission be that no money from EU taxpayers has contributed to funding so-called ‘gain-of-function’ research at China’s first BSL-4[8] lab?
- [1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/coronavirus-bats-china-wuhan/2021/06/02/772ef984-beb2-11eb-922a-c40c9774bc48_story.html
- [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/25/timeline-how-wuhan-lab-leak-theory-suddenly-became-credible/
- [3] https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/06/the-lab-leak-theory-inside-the-fight-to-uncover-covid-19s-origins
- [4] According to the EU Financial Transparency System https://ec.europa.eu/budget/fts/index_en.htm
- [5] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2020-005649-ASW_EN.html
- [6] https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-wuhan-lab-idUSKBN28R2UK
- [7] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fungibility.asp
- [8] BSL-4 is the highest level of biocontainment: its criteria include filtering air and treating water and waste before they leave the laboratory, and stipulating that researchers change clothes and shower before and after using lab facilities. https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2017.21487