Legal framework

The National Bioethics Commission was first established by Article 10 of Law 2667/1998 (A’ 281) and organized by Presidential Decree 194/2001 (A’ 158).

Articles 30 to 39 of Law 4780/2021 re-established the National Commission on Bioethics and Technoethics as the universal successor to the National Bioethics Commission, aiming to provide a more comprehensive approach to highlighting the close connection between the applications of the natural sciences and contemporary social values.

The Commission reports to the Prime Minister and is administratively and financially supported by the Presidency of the Government, and is included in its budget as a distinct special entity.

The Commission constitutes a consultative body of the State in the fields of life sciences and new technologies in general. Its mission is to examine the ethical, social and legal dimensions and consequences mostly of the fields of biology, biotechnology, medicine and genetics, and of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, advanced algorithms and robotics.

Responsibilities

The Commission has primarily the following competences:

a) formulates overall policy and special acts proposals, provides relevant guidelines and consults on issues related to its mission,

b) represents the Country in international organizations for issues related to its mission,

c) deploys initiatives to raise public awareness about issues related to its mission,

d) participates in legislative drafting committees for issues related to its mission or delivers an Opinion about relevant provisions before they get submitted

e) examines the adaptation of Greek legislation to the provisions of the International and EU law and proposes regulation arrangements about issues related to its mission,

f) draws up and submits reports following the article 34,

g) establishes working groups for issues related to its mission, that are composed of specialized public sector staff or private experts, defines their organizational and operational model and supervises their work, and

h) organizes events for issues related to its mission.

Σύνθεση

Σύμφωνα με την υπό στοιχεία Υ 13/15.4.2021 απόφαση του Πρωθυπουργού (ΥΟΔΔ 298) όπως τροποποιήθηκε με την υπό στοιχεία Υ 7/3.3.2022 απόφαση του Πρωθυπουργού (ΥΟΔΔ 151) σύνθεση της Εθνικής Επιτροπής Βιοηθικής έχει ως εξής: