Check against delivery

Ladies and gentlemen,

So many of our greatest achievements have technology at their heart – and nowhere more so than in the biomedical field.

We live longer and healthier lives than any generation before us. Previously untreatable conditions can now be kept under control.

In genetics and other fields, we find ourselves on the brink of breath-taking new discoveries.

And it is always right that, as we advance our knowledge, we remain alive to the social and moral questions which so often accompany progress of this kind.

More than 5 centuries ago, Rabelais declared that ‘Science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.’

And, for several decades now, the Council of Europe has sought to be part of that conscience.

Our Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine – produced in 1997 – was the first ever international treaty to bring these two things together: biomedicine and human rights.

It was a milestone in putting the autonomy and the consent of individuals, in particular, at the centre of the application of new discoveries and developments.

The Convention created protections for individuals who for whatever reason – age, mental state – might not be able to make informed choices. And it continues to serve as a hugely important tool.

And the Council of Europe continues to take our responsibilities in this area very seriously. We understand the liberating power of technology, and equally we are the guardian of human rights.

I want to thank the Belgian Chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers for supporting this Conference – it is extremely timely.

As our technologies become more complex and interlinked, so do the questions they pose for liberty and human dignity.

Nanodevices inserted into the body, for example, can help identify cancer cells at a very early stage, allowing us to refine treatments and improve monitoring. That is a wonderful thing.

But, here there is a link to information and communication technology. Suddenly it becomes possible – from these tiny devices and the records they create – to collect huge amounts of sensitive personal data. What does that mean for privacy? For data protection? For the right to know and not to know?

Neurodevices, such as brain implants, help us treat conditions like Parkinson’s disease and clinical depression, which for so long were regarded as incurable. But they may also modify and influence behaviour, thereby challenging human autonomy and integrity.

We are also increasingly seeing technologies, which were initially developed in health, subsequently applied in other fields.

Today, for example, neurotechnology developed to record brain activity for biomedical reasons, is also proposed for gaming, therefore falling outside of the safeguards developed in the medical domain.

So, in many ways, the lines are blurring: between medical and non-medical domains; between private and public spheres; between clinical and research fields.

It is no surprise, therefore, that in recent years our Court – the European Court of Human Rights – has at times found itself grappling with human rights questions flowing from developments in biomedicine.

Our Parliamentary Assembly has also done very important work on this space, with regard to nanotechnologies – technologies which might appear in our clothes or toiletries or cosmetics, but for which there has been little public debate on the side effects and risks.

And I am sure that this conference will make a hugely important contribution too.

The aim today is to identify the big priorities for human rights in relation to bioethics - as the basis for action.

I am delighted to see so many fields and interests represented here: scientists and medical professionals, specialists in human rights, lawyers, sociologists, philosophers, economists, representatives of patients’ associations, the private sector and academia.

All of your voices and perspectives will be crucial if we are going to preserve the energy and dynamism of technological innovation, while simultaneously safeguarding human rights.

So thank you for being here. I wish you the best for your day.

Ladies and gentlemen,

So many of our greatest achievements have technology at their heart – and nowhere more so than in the biomedical field.

We live longer and healthier lives than any generation before us. Previously untreatable conditions can now be kept under control.

In genetics and other fields, we find ourselves on the brink of breath-taking new discoveries.

And it is always right that, as we advance our knowledge, we remain alive to the social and moral questions which so often accompany progress of this kind.

More than 5 centuries ago, Rabelais declared that ‘Science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.’

And, for several decades now, the Council of Europe has sought to be part of that conscience.

Our Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine – produced in 1997 – was the first ever international treaty to bring these two things together: biomedicine and human rights.

It was a milestone in putting the autonomy and the consent of individuals, in particular, at the centre of the application of new discoveries and developments.

The Convention created protections for individuals who for whatever reason – age, mental state – might not be able to make informed choices. And it continues to serve as a hugely important tool.

And the Council of Europe continues to take our responsibilities in this area very seriously. We understand the liberating power of technology, and equally we are the guardian of human rights.

I want to thank the Belgian Chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers for supporting this Conference – it is extremely timely.

As our technologies become more complex and interlinked, so do the questions they pose for liberty and human dignity.

Nanodevices inserted into the body, for example, can help identify cancer cells at a very early stage, allowing us to refine treatments and improve monitoring. That is a wonderful thing.

But, here there is a link to information and communication technology. Suddenly it becomes possible – from these tiny devices and the records they create – to collect huge amounts of sensitive personal data. What does that mean for privacy? For data protection? For the right to know and not to know?

Neurodevices, such as brain implants, help us treat conditions like Parkinson’s disease and clinical depression, which for so long were regarded as incurable. But they may also modify and influence behaviour, thereby challenging human autonomy and integrity.

We are also increasingly seeing technologies, which were initially developed in health, subsequently applied in other fields.

Today, for example, neurotechnology developed to record brain activity for biomedical reasons, is also proposed for gaming, therefore falling outside of the safeguards developed in the medical domain.

So, in many ways, the lines are blurring: between medical and non-medical domains; between private and public spheres; between clinical and research fields.

It is no surprise, therefore, that in recent years our Court – the European Court of Human Rights – has at times found itself grappling with human rights questions flowing from developments in biomedicine.

Our Parliamentary Assembly has also done very important work on this space, with regard to nanotechnologies – technologies which might appear in our clothes or toiletries or cosmetics, but for which there has been little public debate on the side effects and risks.

And I am sure that this conference will make a hugely important contribution too.

The aim today is to identify the big priorities for human rights in relation to bioethics - as the basis for action.

I am delighted to see so many fields and interests represented here: scientists and medical professionals, specialists in human rights, lawyers, sociologists, philosophers, economists, representatives of patients’ associations, the private sector and academia.

All of your voices and perspectives will be crucial if we are going to preserve the energy and dynamism of technological innovation, while simultaneously safeguarding human rights.

So thank you for being here. I wish you the best for your day.