The process to revise the law governing vivisection across the whole of the European Union has reached another critical moment. The draft Directive - having passed through the European Parliament - is now being re-shaped by the Council of Ministers, which is made up of ministers from every Member State. The Council of Ministers may adopt its position in early December.
It is vital that the influence of pro-vivisection industry lobbyists is countered by voices that speak out in defence of animals and for modern, cruelty-free research methods.
The directive proposal is not right !!!
However we oppose all animal experiments on moral and scientific grounds the abolition through the EU is simply not possible at this time. What we need to do now is to demand from the Council of Ministers not to adopt the parliament proposal;
"If the Parliament's position is similar to the Council's, animals could be subjected to suffering which is both severe and prolonged, and be repeatedly used in painful experiments. Furthermore, the researchers would, in effect, be allowed to determine which experiments need governmental permission, by deciding how to categorise the level of suffering an animal is likely to experience. Researchers would also not have to carry out retrospective assessments of experiments – in the vast majority of cases - whether from the animal welfare or scientific point of view."
Email MEPs
Please use the sample letter from ECEAE European Coalition to End Animal Experiments
and use the list of
MEPs addresses (listed by country) MEPs addresses
of course you can write your own letter!!!
sample letter:
Revision of EC Directive 86/609 (animal experiments)
I am writing to you today in relation to the current revision of
the Directive 86/609/EEC on the protection of animals used in
experiments. As you know, the report of the European Parliament
was adopted on the 5th May, and the Council of Ministers may
adopt its position by the end of November. The Parliament will
eventually have to take position or vote on the revised
legislation in the upcoming month, and I urge you to support a
progressive approach to animal protection and humane science.
I believe that the report adopted by the Parliament does not
begin to reflect public opinion and there are very strong
indications that the Council of Ministers may remove or dilute
even those positive amendments (see the demands below) which the
Parliament passed. I hope that you will stand firm on these.
I am opposed to animal experiments but please ensure that the
revised legislation will at the very least promote more humane
and modern science by:
- prohibiting the use of wild-caught primates and Great Apes,
phasing out other primate research within a short defined
timescale and insisting that in the meantime only the offspring
of parents reared in captivity are used
- requiring that all projects are subject to an authorization
process, following local ethical consideration and a rigorous
harm/benefit assessment on both ethical and scientific grounds
by governments. The purposes for which animals are used should be
in line with clear public opinion, and therefore limited to
research aims at life-threatening or serious human conditions.
- prohibiting procedures causing severe suffering. There must be
a well-defined and consistently applied upper limit on permitted
suffering which should be assessed realistically with an animal's
whole life experience as a laboratory animal taken into account.
- including strict restrictions on the re-use of animals such as
governmental permission on a case-by-case basis, following
retrospective review of the suffering already incurred and a
rigorous harm: benefit assessment of the re-use.
- introducing far greater transparency, with only genuinely
confidential information and information which could identify
those involved with animal research protected.
- prohibiting unnecessary duplication of animal experiments (as
the Parliament has proposed)
- requiring that all projects are subject to a retrospective
review when they come to an end. This is important to assess the
scientific utility of a project and to inform future
authorisation decisions.
- promoting far greater funding for and compulsion to develop
and use alternatives (again as the Parliament has proposed).
- introducing an obligation on the Commission, in conjunction
with stakeholders, to hold regular reviews of the new Directive,
to ensure that it reflects evolving public opinion and scientific
developments, with a targeted approach to ending animal
experiments as soon as possible as the overriding objective
These measures would bring the revised Directive much more in
line with public opinion, as demonstrated by a recent YouGov
survey in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the Czech
Republic (please visit www.eceae.org for details of the poll).
As my elected representative, I hope that you will reflect my
views and those of so many of your other constituents at the
European Parliament and should not give in to the scaremongering
of the very powerful animal testing industry that important
research would come to an end, or migrate outside the EU, if
animal protection is improved.
If you need more information please do not hesistate to contact
Samira Gazzane to arrange a briefing meeting.
Email: gro.eaece|enazzaG.arimaS#gro.eaece|enazzaG.arimaS or gro.eaece|ycilop#gro.eaece|ycilop
(Your signature)
you can send the letter from ECEAE site (you can chose 1 MEP from your country) email your MEP
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