Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-002369/2025/rev.1
to the Commission
Rule 144
Gerald Hauser (PfE)
Neither the Chinese nor the US Government officially disputes that the COVID-19 virus was artificially created in a laboratory as part of ‘gain-of-function’ research and that the global COVID-19 pandemic was triggered either by a laboratory accident or deliberate release. The US Government has therefore recently slashed funding for gain-of-function research or stopped it altogether in certain countries. In the last few months, a pair of Chinese researchers working at the University of Michigan was charged in the US with attempting to smuggle a dangerous pathogen – a potential bioweapon – into the United States. The US prosecutor in charge of the case described it as a matter of utmost importance for national security[1].
- 1.Which gain-of-function research programmes and which laboratories involved have been and are being supported financially, organisationally or with personnel by the Commission, its bodies, agencies or entities since 2015?
- 2.What measures has the Commission taken to prevent the import, manufacture or release of potential biological weapons in the EU?
- 3.Does the Commission intend to ban gain-of-function research – i.e. the artificial creation of potentially dangerous pathogens of any kind – in the future?
Submitted: 12.6.2025
- [1] https://www.foxnews.com/us/patel-chinese-nationals-charged-smuggling-known-agroterrorism-agent-into-us-direct-threat