The Commission of the European Union (EU) is preparing to revise Directive 86/609/EEC, which has regulated the use of animals in experimental and other scientific purposes within the EU since 1986. As such, they have asked the EU public and scientists to provide their views on the regulation of laboratory animal research1.

The 1986 Directive 86/609/EEC on the protection of animals used for research and other scientific purposes was intended to improve laboratory animal welfare by setting standards for housing and care and for training animal care personnel and investigators. To reduce the numbers of animals used for experiments, the Directive prohibited the use of animals in experiments for which alternative methods exist.

The recent public consultation on the revision of Directive 86/609/EEC, which closed on 18 August 2006, aimed to:

  • “Provide the Commission with views of the public on their attitudes on the use of animals in experiments and ways to improve their welfare; and

  • “Comment on the preliminary findings of the impact assessment for the revision of the existing legislation for the protection of animals used in experiments1.”

The Commission issued two questionnaires for this consultation. The first, available in 20 languages, allowed interested EU citizens to express their views about animal welfare. The second questionnaire was developed for use by experts in the field of laboratory animal science with detailed technical questions in English. To ensure transparency, the Council will publish on its website the answers it receives.

The responses will help the Commission to draft a proposal, which will be forwarded to the European Parliament and the Council. The legislative process for adoption of a new Directive may take at least two years.