Ramesh, Kathryn, I read Bradford Short’s fair-minded post with great interest, even if I’m not convinced by his arguments for a number of reasons, mainly revolving around the general importance of doing as little as possible to boost (or acknowledge) the authority (legal or moral) of the UN as it now stands. I was particularly intrigued, however, by what he had to say about German diplomats and the Belgians lobbying against that UN vote.

There are some who might see this as a contrast with what is being done at the European level. Both Belgium and Germany are currently pushing hard to secure ratification of the EU’s draft ‘constitution’ across Europe. If I have understood it correctly (and it’s difficult read any part of that enormous and indigestible document without nausea, exhaustion and troubling suicidal urges), Article II-63 includes an express ban on “the reproductive cloning of human beings.” EU law generally trumps national law, and so if the EU constitution really does come into force that particular type of cloning would be prohibited throughout the EU, regardless of any skullduggery at the UN.

So far as I am aware, however, the draft EU constitution has nothing to say about therapeutic cloning, and that may be the crucial distinction for those wily diplomats.