Laboratory Animals

Introduction

The protection and welfare of animals is an area covered by a wide range of EU legislation. These include wildlife, zoo animals, farm animals, animals in transport and animals used in scientific experiments. EU legislation on the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes is covered by Directive 86/609/EEC. Animal experimentation, be it for the development of new chemicals or medicines, for physiological studies, for studying environmental effects or for testing new food additives, has to be carried out in compliance with this directive.

On 5 November 2008 the Commission presented a proposal to update this directive. The aim of the proposal is to strengthen current legislation and improve the welfare of animals used in scientific experiments.

A protocol on animal welfare was included in the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam, which obliges the EU and its Member States to take animal welfare considerations into account in a number of policy areas.

Latest documents

• Conclusions of the Expert Working Group on severity classification of scientific procedures performed on animals

• First Reading Report from the European Parliament of the proposal to revise Directive 86/609/EEC

• Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) opinion on the use of non-human primates in research and on the replacement, reduction and refinement of their use in scientific procedures. For other SCHER opinions follow this link.

• Proposal to revise the directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes (86/609/EEC) (Nov 2008)

• Impact assessment of the proposal to revise the directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes (Nov 2008)

• Press release on the proposal to revise the directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes (Nov 2008)

• Questions and answers on the proposal to revise the directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes (Nov 2008)

• Citizens' summary on the proposal to revise the directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes (Nov 2008)

• EU Protocol on animal welfare (included in the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty)

• Report on the Development, Validation and Legal Acceptance of Alternative Methods to Animal Experiments in the Field of Cosmetics

• Commission request for Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) opinion on the use of non-human primates in research and on the replacement, reduction and refinement of their use in scientific procedures

• European Parliament Written Declaration on non-human primates in scientific experiments (Sep 2007) (pdf ~78 KB)

• Response by the European Commission to European Parliament declaration on non-human primates in scientific experiments (includes a response to petitions received by the Commission on this declaration) (pdf ~51-73 KB)

• Response to a petition on a supply and breeding centre for non-human primates in northern Spain (Nov 2007)

• Fifth Statistical Report on the number of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes in the EU in 2005

• Response to petitions on the protection of experimental animals and banning experiments on non-human primates (Sep 2007) (pdf ~150 KB)

• Commission recommendation 2007/526/EC on revised guidelines for the accommodation and care of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes (Jul 2007)