EUROSTEM forms part of the European Union's Fifth Framework Programme on Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources. This project is concerned with the Ethics of Human Stem Cell Research and Therapy in Europe. It does not itself involve primary research on persons or the tissues of persons, animals or plants.

Its main objectives, within a context of respect for fundamental human values, are:

To develop an ethical framework for human stem cell research, including clarifying the responsibilities of researchers, policy makers and economic actors in the field and the rights of research subjects and tissue donors, and exploring the new ethical issues raised by such research;

To monitor the development of this research and the public response to it in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe;

To evaluate the regulatory and legislative framework within which such research will take place in any EU nations that may permit such research during the course of the project and note lessons for other countries; and

To identify the ethical issues and concerns raised by such research and the extent to which such issues can be, or have been resolved, and the concerns addressed, and hence to contribute to a balanced dialogue between the public, the policy makers and the actors in the field.