European Parliament: The European Parliament has approved funding for embryonic stem cell research. Although the funds will only be available to the three EU members which permit research on embryos at the moment, critics fear that it will put pressure on other countries to update their legislation. The various bills authorising the funding passed by slender majorities in the 732-seat parliament and they still have to be approved by the European Council. The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano complained that Strasbourg had endorsed a "tragically utilitarian" approach towards the creation and destruction of human embryos.