The proposed EU Directive revision

The proposed text for EU Directive 86/609 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes was published in November 2008.

The proposed text was sent to both the European Parliament and the European Council. Three MEP committees – Agriculture, Environment, and Industry Research & Energy – considered the draft and proposed amendments.

The whole Parliament will give the amended draft a first reading, as will the Council. Both make proposals for changes to each other and then, taking each other’s proposals and the Commission’s reaction into account, they each have a second reading. All three bodies have to reach agreement on the text. This is called the co-decision procedure.

In general, the draft Directive as proposed by the Commission is poorly worded and would fail to provide the harmonisation or improvements in animal welfare that it promises. Instead, it is likely to increase bureaucracy and drive research out of Europe to places where animal welfare standards are likely to be lower. However, the Agriculture Committee has voted through some improvements to the original draft.

There are also several specific proposals of concern to the research community, mainly because they signal an increase in the already heavy administrative burden, they threaten certain areas of research and they provide no significant improvement to animal welfare.

Related link

Timeline for the revision process at the Association of Medical Research Charities.

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