The UK¡¯s departure from the European Union could lead to a shift in regulation on stem cell research, experts have warned, as new figures show the extent of lobbying by the Catholic Church and anti-abortion groups.

A??published by the EU Observer reports that ¡°US billionaires, some of whom are friends of American president Donald Trump, are...paying anti-abortion groups in Europe tens of millions of dollars to influence policy and law¡±.

According to the EU transparency register, the Commission of the Episcopates of the European Union (Comece), which was created in Brussels in 1980, spent between €1 million (?900,000) and €1.25 million last year on trying to influence EU institutions. Comece suports the EU¡¯s bans on Brussels research funding being used for scientific projects that involved embryo destruction.

Julian Hitchcock, a life sciences specialist at the law firm Bristows, said that life sciences regulation at the European level had ¡°benefited massively through the leadership of the UK¡± and ¡°having one less liberal democracy and major life science player¡± involved in the conversation, as a result of Brexit, meant that the ¡°laws are more exposed than they would be¡± otherwise.

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¡°In the past, the presence of strong liberal countries (including the UK) helped to ensure that extreme ideas were lost or mollified. The absence of British commissioners, MEPs and judges removes a powerful brake,¡± he said.

Mr Hitchcock predicted that ¡°a great deal of the lobbying was fuelled by an exaggerated idea about the powers of the EU¡±, but said that ¡°blundering away may succeed over the longer term¡±.

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¡°If the Council of Ministers had been unmoved by our legal opinion on genetic testing [which argued that the EU lacked the competence to enact legislation on in vitro diagnostic medical devices], and nodded through the Passau amendments, the effect would have been to widen the scope of the Union¡¯s competence, nibbling away at national discretion over matters?that are otherwise deemed to fall exclusively to them,¡± he said.

Mr Hitchcock added that this ¡°extension of power¡± was seen in the 2011 European Court of Justice judgment that inventions derived from human embryos were not patentable, which was justified ¡°on the grounds that human embryo research is unethical in all member states¡±. The ban was lifted in 2014.

¡°In this way, even ham-fisted action ¨C in this case brought by an environmental lobby group, though applauded by the Catholic Church ¨C at the EU level may batter through to the national level,¡± he said.

Anne Corbett, a senior associate at LSE Consulting and an expert on higher education and the EU, said that ¡°the UK has been a hugely valued player within science circles, reputed for world class research, and in a changing world where these things are questioned, ethical¡±.

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¡°So indeed the UK¡¯s exit will mean less ethical players have an opportunity to try and step in,¡± she said.

A European Commission spokeswoman said that the organisation ¡°maintains open, transparent and regular contacts with the representatives of religious non-confessional groups¡±.

¡°It is an important part of policy-making to be open and to listen to a wide range of views from different stakeholders and to hear different points of view,¡± she said.

The transparency register also reveals that the New York-based World Youth Alliance, an organisation that is against abortion, contraception and IVF, received €58,000 in grants from the Erasmus+ student mobility programme in 2017.

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ellie.bothwell@timeshighereducation.com