Source: European Parliament
Priority question for written answer P-002534/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Christine Anderson (ESN)
In its response to E-001403/2025[1], the Commission fails to address whether its position on the origin of SARS-CoV-2 remains tenable in light of growing public evidence contradicting the zoonotic hypothesis. Several recent peer-reviewed studies highlight the unexplained emergence of the ‘furin cleavage site’ in SARS-CoV‑2 (rare in naturally circulating sarbecoviruses and difficult to reconcile with a purely zoonotic origin[2]).
Instead, the Commission continues to refer uncritically to the WHO’s 2021 joint study with China, which concluded that a laboratory origin was ‘extremely unlikely’. That report has been widely criticised for serious methodological flaws, including China’s control over access to data and personnel[3], conflicts of interest among team members with prior links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology[4], and pre-agreed terms of reference that excluded key investigative avenues, such as a forensic audit of laboratory records[5].
- 1.Why has the Commission not undertaken an independent reassessment of the origin of SARS-CoV-2, particularly in light of publicly available intelligence analyses and scientific findings that contradict the WHO’s conclusions?
- 2.On what current and verifiable scientific basis does the Commission continue to assert that a laboratory origin remains ‘extremely unlikely’?
- 3.How does the Commission evaluate the anomaly of the furin cleavage site in SARS-CoV-2, and will it seek expert scientific input on its possible origin as part of any future reassessment or investigation?
Submitted: 24.6.2025
- [1] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-10-2025-001403_EN.html.
- [2] e.g. https://bmcgenomdata.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12863-024-01290-2.
- [3] https://healthpolicy-watch.news/cia-report-reignites-covid-19-origins-debate/; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_SARS-CoV-2.
- [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHO-convened_Global_Study_of_Origins_of_SARS-CoV-2.
- [5] https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2021-08-12/right-way-investigate-origins-covid-19.