Legislation to limit the use of animals for scientific experiments has moved a step closer after Parliament and Council representatives reached an agreement of principle on the main issues. The key point is to improve animal welfare without hampering the fight against serious diseases.

While keen for ethical reasons to reduce the number of animals used for scientific purposes, MEPs are also concerned not to put obstacles in the way of research. The new legislation, if approved, would reduce the number of animal tests and introduce a compulsory assessment for each experiment to safeguard animal welfare.

The MEP who led Parliament's team of negotiators, Elisabeth Jeggle (EPP, DE), said "In Europe we already have the highest welfare standards in the world when it comes to animal experiments. This directive will raise those standards even further. In the final trialogue meeting yesterday, we succeeded in finding a balanced compromise that strengthens animal welfare while allowing vitally important research, including basic research, to continue in Europe and not in countries where animal welfare standards are much lower."

The Parliament and Council delegations hammered out the agreement on Monday evening under a procedure that needs the approval of both bodies for an EU law to be adopted.

The agreed text still needs to be endorsed by the EP's political groups. Moreover, it does not cover all the draft legislation, so further negotiations will have to take place before a complete agreement is formally submitted, first to the EP Agriculture Committee and then to the full Parliament for a final vote. Outstanding issues include comitology arrangements, which changed after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in December and will be dealt under the Spanish Presidency of the Council starting next year.

More effort to devise alternative methods
According to Ms Jeggle, "In the trialogue negotiations our delegation succeeded in carrying through Parliament's first reading position on many critically important points. We were particularly pleased to see that the Council accepted our position with regard to inspections of breeders, suppliers and users of animals used for testing. A robust inspection system is essential to ensure that the rules we are introducing are complied with. That way, high animal welfare standards will apply throughout Europe but will not prevent research so important for the protection of human health and human dignity from being carried out."

Around 12 million animals are used for scientific research each year in the EU. This number could be reduced once the proposed legislation is approved which states that animals can be used for experiments only if this is necessary for scientific purposes. All Member States would have to ensure that whenever an alternative, scientifically valid, method is available that does not use animals, it has to be used instead.

In addition, EP and Council representatives agreed that approval should be granted only to tests that use killing methods which cause the least pain or distress, while still providing scientifically satisfactory results.

Using fewer primates while not compromising research into serious diseases
The proposed ban on using great apes such as chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orang-utans for scientific testing was broadly endorsed by both delegations during the negotiations. But the proposed measures would also restrict the use of other primates such as ouistitis and macaques and may therefore hamper European scientific research on neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's, according to the EP delegation.

MEPs therefore successfully pushed for the use of such primates to be allowed if there is scientific evidence that the goal of the test cannot be achieved without using these species.

Classification of the severity of tests
The two delegations also agreed to clarify the text of the legislation, giving definitions for the three categories of pain inflicted during a test ("non-recovery", "mild", "moderate" or "severe"), under an amendment approved by the Parliament at the first reading of the legislation. To avoid repeated suffering, the Commission wants to allow the same animals to be re-used only if the test entails pain classed as "up to mild".

MEPs feared that applying criteria that are too strict would result in even more animals being used for tests, which would defeat the object. They therefore asked for animals to be re-usable if the test entails "moderate" pain, after consulting a vet. This would include blood tests or implants performed under anaesthetic.

Inspection and review clause
To ensure the provisions are implemented, the EP delegation stressed the need for regular and effective inspections of bodies that carry out scientific experiments using animals.

The agreement reached on Monday evening obliges national governments to ensure inspections are performed on at least 33% of laboratories using animals, some of which should be unannounced. The Commission would also be in charge of controlling national authorities responsible for inspections.

In addition, the Commission would be required to evaluate and review the proposed legislation five years after its entry into force.

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

Procedure: second reading, negotiations (trilogue)
 
With the Lisbon Treaty, in force as of 1 December 2009, the European Parliament has important new lawmaking powers. Virtually all EU legislation is now decided by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers together - including agriculture, immigration, energy and the EU budget. As the only directly elected EU institution, Parliament's position in making sure the EU is accountable to its citizens is also strengthened, for example by MEPs having a bigger say in appointments to many of the EU's top jobs.

(European Parliament, 12/12/2009)