European Commission of EEC initiates and implements EEC legislation 
and has the following legal instruments available for the enactment 
of policy decisions: 
• regulations — are binding on all the member states and have the 
same strength as national laws; 
• directives — are binding on all the member states but allow them 
to choose the means of execution; 
• decisions — are only binding upon the parties named (may be 
addressed to individuals, organizations, or governments); and 
• recommendations and opinions — are not binding. 
The Commission has stated that it does not intend to duplicate the 
activities of other international organizations in this area, but 
emphasizes that it has the responsibility of ensuring (1) that the 
safety measures adopted by member states are harmonized and (2) that 
private industry adheres to the same standards as the public sector. 
The Commission is being assisted by the Advisory Committee for Medical 
Research . 
To these ends, the Commission convened a meeting of national GMAG 
representatives in Brussels, in January 1977, for informal discussions 
on recombinant DNA research. A subgroup of the Commission met in Febru- 
ary and again in June. An EEC directive is under consideration which 
would require that genetic manipulation activities be registered with 
and approved by the appropriate national commission. (The precise 
definition of "genetic manipulation" is under consideration.) 
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