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During each EU Council Presidency, the national ethics councils of the Member States meet. This is the "Forum of national ethics councils" (NEC Forum). This event, not open to the public, brings together the national bioethics and science ethics councils of all EU Member States. As part of the French Presidency of the European Union, the CCNE will organise the 29th NEC Forum on 12 and 13 May 2022.

 

Program

12 May 2022 – from 09:30 to 17:10 CEST

WELCOME ADDRESSES

09:30 – 10:10

Olivier VÉRAN, Ministry of Solidarity and Health
Joanna DRAKE, Deputy Director-General in DG Research and Innovation (R&I) at the European Commission 
Audrey AZOULAY, Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Jean-François DELFRAISSY, Chair of the National Consultative Ethics Council (CCNE), France

SESSION 1
ETHICS AND DIGITAL: HOW DO NATIONAL ETHICS COUNCILS ADDRESS ETHICAL ISSUES IN THE DIGITAL AREA?
    
Chair: Barbara PRAINSACK, Chair of the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) 

10:10 – 10:30

Ethical Governance of Emerging and Converging Technologies
Gabriela RAMOS, Assistant Director-General for the Social and Human Sciences, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
 

10:30 – 10:40
Coffee break

10:40 – 11:00 
  
Digital Health: Combining Bioethics and Cyberethics 
Claude KIRCHNER, Director of the National Pilot Committee for Digital Ethics (CNPEN), Member of the National Consultative Ethics Council (CCNE), Inria

11:00 – 11:20

From Theory to Practice: Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI and Challenges of Implementation
Lorena JAUME-PALASÍ, Founder and Executive Director of The Ethical Tech Society Berlin, co-founder of AlgorithmWatch and the Internet Governance Forum Academy

11:20 – 11:40

The European Union Artificial Intelligence Act (To be confirmed)
Ibán GARCÍA DEL BLANCO, Member of the European Parliament, Coordinator of the Socialists and Democrats in Committee of Legal Affairs, rapporteur of the European Parliament legislative initiative on the Framework of ethical aspects of artificial intelligence, robotics and related technologies

11:40 – 12:10
Discussion

12:10 – 13:10
Downtime

SESSION 2
HOW ARE NATIONAL ETHICS COUNCILS ABLE TO REACT AND CHANGE?
    
Focus 1
Ethics in innovation and social impact

13:10 – 13:30
    
Chair: Lotta ERIKSSON, Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics

Participation, community engagement and social value in the light of research ethics - experiences from the PRO-Ethics project
Dirk LANZERATH and Lisa TAMBORNINO, European Network of Research Ethics Committees (EUREC) 

13:30 – 13:50

Responsible Development and Governance of AI
Raja CHATILA, Institute of Intelligent Systems and Robotics (ISIR), Sorbonne University, Paris, France

13:50 – 14:20  
Discussion

14:20 – 14:30
Coffee break

Focus 2
National Ethics Councils and health care democracy/citizens’ democracy

14:30 – 14:50
Chair: Volker LIPP, Vice-Chair of German Ethics Council  

New challenges and perspectives for Health Democracy
Karine LEFEUVRE, Vice-Chair of the National Consultative Ethics Council (CCNE), France 

14:50 – 15:10
Public dialogue: an essential component of democratic governance 
Laurence LWOFF, Secretary of the Council of Europe, Steering Committee on Human rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health (CDBIO)

15:10 – 15:40  
Discussion

Focus 3
National Ethics Councils in times of health crisis/emergencies

15:40 – 16:00
  
Chair: Andreas REIS, Co-Lead Health Ethics & Governance Unit Research for Health Department, Division of the Chief Scientist, World Health Organization (WHO) 

Social responsibility and health: National Bioethics Committees in times of pandemic and war
Christiane DRUML, Austrian Bioethics Commission

16:00 – 16:20
The Spanish Bioethics Committee (CBE) in the context of the pandemic: Spanish National Strategy for the vaccination against Covid-19 and the role of bioethics through the CBE participation
Federico DE MONTALVO JÄÄSKELÄINEN, Spanish Bioethics Committee

16:20 – 16:40

Data-driven research in clinical ethics and public health ethics
Ethical challenges with special emphasis on public health emergencies
Stavroula TSINOREMA, Hellenic National Commission for Bioethics & Technoethics, Greece

16:40 – 17:10
Discussion
  

End of day 1 - Diner 

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13 May 2022 – from 09:30 to 13:00 CEST
SESSION 3
ETHICS AND MENTAL HEALTH
    
Chair: David ARCHARD, Chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, United-Kingdom 

09:30 – 09:50

Mental Health and Research Integrity
Joeri TIJDINK, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands

09:50 – 10:10

Mental Health and Religion - Ethical Aspects 
Ramaz SHENGELIA, Georgian National Bioethical Council

10:10 – 10:30

Paradoxes in mental health: current and future ethical challenges
François ANSERMET, University of Geneva and University of Lausanne, Switzerland

10:30 – 10:40
Coffee break

10:40 – 11:00
  
Involuntary psychiatric treatment of patients with mental disorders
Maja RUS MAKOVEC, University Psychiatric Clinic Ljubljana & Medical 
faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Marjeta TERČELJ ZORMAN, Vice Chair of the Commission of the Republic of Slovenia for Medical Ethics, University Clinical Centre Ljubljana 

11:00 – 11:30
Discussion

SESSION 4
THE IMPACT OF NATIONAL ETHICS COUNCILS’ OPINIONS ON PUBLIC HEALTH
    
Chair: Jean-François DELFRAISSY, Chair of the National Consultative Ethics Council (CCNE), France

11:30 – 11:50
The pandemic. Strengths and weaknesses 
Amós José GARCÍA ROJAS, Member of the expert group of the Spanish Strategy for vaccination against Covid, Member of World Health Organisation (WHO)

11:50 – 12:10

Between expertise, dialogue and decisions, which impact on public health policies for national ethics councils’ opinions?
Laurent CHAMBAUD, Dean, EHESP School of Public Health, member of the National Consultative Ethics Council (CCNE)

12:10 – 12:40
General discussion

CLOSING REMARKS AND FUTURE NEC ACTIVITIES

12:40 – 13:00
    
Isidoros KARATZAS, Head of the Research Ethics and Integrity Sector, DG RTD, European Commission 
Renata VESELSKA, Vice Chair of the Bioethics Commission of the Research and Development Council, Czech Republic
Jean-François DELFRAISSY, Chair of the National Consultative Ethics Council (CCNE), France

End of day 2