EU Guideline on Animal Experiments
Within the European Union, the use of animals for research purposes is only permitted if there is no viable alternative.
In this article
The European Union is focused on the achievement of complete replacement of experiments on living animals by other research methods as soon as scientifically and technically feasible. Unfortunately, that moment is not yet in the foreseeable future. The rules for experiments with animals are formulated in the European Directive 2010/63/EU.
The European Union member states are required to translate the EU guidelines to national legislation. The applicable law in the Netherlands is the Experiments on Animals Act (Wod, reviewed 2014).
Protection, 3R-methods and fair competition
The EU Directive stands for:
- Better protection of animals involved in scientific research;
- Fair competitive conditions for businesses and scientific research within the EU;
- Encouraging the application of the 3R's (replacement, reduction and refinement).