Today the European Commission rejected the Stop Vivisection Initiative that sought to repeal European Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes and ban animal research in the EU.

Today, there are effective treatments for many infectious diseases, some forms of cancer, and several chronic diseases such as diabetes. These advancements would have been impossible without the insights gained in animal studies.

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However, the Commission does not share the view that scientific principles invalidate the ‘animal model’. Indeed, despite differences with humans, animal models have been the key scientific drivers to develop almost all existing effective and safe medical treatments and prevention measures for human and animal diseases

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The Commission therefore does not intend to submit a proposal to repeal Directive 2010/63/EU and is not intending to propose the adoption of a new legislative framework.

Read the full EU report here.

Dr Paul Browne, Research Editor at Speaking of Research, said:

We welcome the decision by the European Commission to reject the Stop Vivisection Initiative. EU Directive 2010/63 which governs animal experiments has been a step forward for both animal welfare and better science. They put the 3Rs – Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of animals in research – at the heart of the rules governing animal experiments. Animal research continues to play a key part in medical advances. Only last week we learned about a new lung cancer therapy that performed very well in clinical trials, allowing patients with the disease to live longer; this treatment was only possible thanks to studies in transgenic mice. “

The Commission’s decision is not, however, unexpected. Directive 2010/63/EU was adopted by the EU Council and Parliament in September 2010 after more than 5 years of discussion and debate, including consultation exercises in which scientists, patient organizations, animal welfare experts, animal rights organizations and members of the public were given the opportunity to submit evidence. At a time when the EU is facing some of the greatest political and economic challenges of its history it was always very unlikely that the EU commission would repeal Directive 2010/63/EU and start the negotiation process again from scratch.

If the organizers and supporters of the Stop Vivisection Initiative were going to have any chance of persuading the Commission to repeal directive 2010/63/EU, they needed to make a very strong case to the MEPs who gathered to hear what they had to say at the European Parliament session held on Monday 11 May 2015.

They didn’t. The hearing was something of a flop, with reports noting that the majority of MEPs present were unconvinced by the arguments put forward by the proponents of the Stop Vivisection Initiative. It’s not difficult to see why this was the case. The Stop Vivisection Organizers and their witnesses failed to put forward any significant new evidence that had not been examined back when the Directive 2010/63/EU was originally negotiated, and at one point in the hearing descended into outright conspiracy theory thinking.

By contrast supporters of Directive 2010/63/EU made a stronger case, especially Nobel laureate Professor Francoise Barré – Sinoussi, who put forward a very strong case for the value of animal research in advancing medicine.

While this was happening scientists and supporters of medical progress in the EU were not taking any chances, and let the European Commission know in no uncertain terms how important animal research is to medical science. More than 170 organizations (Speaking of Research among them) representing scientists, major funders of medical research and many millions of patients across the EU have signed up to a statement in support of Directive 2010/63/EU and sixteen European Nobel laureates published an open letter in UK and German newspapers to rebut the Stop Vivisection campaign. Several excellent letters on the importance of animal research were published in the national press, including a letter in the Times by Steve Ford, Chief executive of Parkinson’s UK, as well as articles such as that written by Oxford University Duchenne muscular dystrophy researcher Professor Kay Davies. In addition research funders have added information explaining their position on animal research to their websites, for example the Wellcome Trust, one of the world’s top medical research charities, have published a briefing on “Why we support research involving animals”, and a Q&A on European Directive 2010/63/EU.

We congratulate the European Commission on this good decision for science and patients in Europe, and the EU scientific community for speaking up for science with one voice.

Speaking of Research