CORDIS reports that the French government are allowing embryonic stem cell research but have banned therapeutic cloning. Since therapeutic cloning is vital to the most important stem cell work, French laboratories are effectively still barred from contributing meaningfully to much of the field of regenerative medicine. The legislative window permitting embryonic stem cell research is only five years in length, at the end of which it will likely be banned again. This sort of self-sabotaging legislation is not going to help accelerate medical progress towards longer, healthier lives. We'd all benefit greatly if politicians would just step aside.
Link: http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:22309