Background

The European Forum for Good Clinical Practice (EFGCP) was officially launched at a meeting organised by the EFGCP and the European Ethical Review Committee (EERC) at a Symposium on 'Good Clinical Practice and Ethics' held at the European Parliament in Brussels on 18-19 March 1993.

The President of the European Parliament, Egon A. Klepsch, opened the Symposium with a Message of Welcome stating the European Community's reason's for promoting the work of the EFGCP and EERC, as well as the objectives and expectations held by the Community.

The ethical principles and practical aims in promoting health expressed by President Klepsch remain at the core of the EFGCP's activities. In the final presentation to the EFGCP European Conference on Clinical Trials & Ethics held at the European Parliament in Brussels on 29-30 September 1997, Dr. Nicole Biros of the Office of Director-General, World Health Organization, stated 'the particularly valuable contribution to WHO's work for global health' made and required by such activities.

In 1993 the European Parliament and the European Commission, in collaboration with a wide range of European and international research organisations, supported the founding of the EFGCP. These organisations, together with many additional ones, have worked since then with the EFGCP in promoting ethics and science in research, within Europe and globally.