The European Commission is cracking down on animal experiments. Last week it launched the “European Partnership on the alternatives to experiments on animals”, with the declared aim of “revising, reducing and revamping (3R principle) the use of animals to fulfil regulatory safety needs”. The Executive has called on member states to meet their obligation of respecting European legislation, in conformity with which experiments on animal should in principle be conducted only as a last resort, rendering virtually obligatory the recourse to alternative forms of experimentation (at the present time, 23 validated Protocols exist in Europe, while a further 30 are awaiting validation). The priorities of the Action Programme contained in the Partnership – – are focused on the application of the 3R principle, given that that only 20% of experiments on animals are “explicitly dictated” by law for needs of safety for human health.
