On the occasion of tomorrow's public hearing in the EU Parliament, at which the demands of the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) "Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics - For a Europe without animal testing" will be presented and discussed, the German Animal Welfare Federation is calling on the EU Commission to take ambitious action: A draft law based on these demands must now follow. The Commission must decide by the end of July how it will respond to the will of the citizens.
"European citizens have made it clear that they will no longer tolerate the painful and questionable animal experiments in Europe. Parliament and the Commission should take this clear signal seriously. Tomorrow's parliamentary hearing could be a decisive step on the way to a draft law that finally heralds the animal-free Europe of the future," says Jessica Rosolowski, expert on alternative methods to animal testing at the German Animal Welfare Federation.
CITIZENS' INITIATIVE MET WITH BROAD SUPPORT
More than 1.2 million people voted in the ECI to strengthen the ban on animal testing for cosmetics, to reorganize EU chemicals legislation and to develop a strategy for the gradual abolition of all animal testing. In addition to the German Animal Welfare Federation and other European animal welfare and animal rights organizations, the ECI was also supported by well-known companies in the cosmetics industry. The broad participation shows that not only society but also the industry wants to accelerate the paradigm shift away from animal testing and towards modern methods.
THE FUTURE BELONGS TO ANIMAL-FREE METHODS
In order to replace animal testing, human-based and animal-free methods need to be promoted more strongly. The German Animal Welfare Federation points out that an exit strategy does not endanger the health of humans, animals and the environment, as is often cited as an argument by animal testing advocates. The opposite is the case: science and especially biomedical research are characterized by an enormous and not to be underestimated innovation potential and are already working successfully within ethical boundaries. "Non-animal testing methods can depict increasingly complex biological relationships and their promotion opens up new ways to better protect humans, animals and the environment than before," says Rosolowski. "The EU Animal Experiments Directive stipulates that animal experiments must be replaced as soon as scientifically possible. The sooner the EU reaches this point and thus takes on a global pioneering role, the better." Last but not least, this would also strengthen the EU's competitiveness.
Note to editors: The public hearing will take place on Thursday, May 25, 2023 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the European Parliament in Brussels and will be broadcast online here. Registration for the online broadcast is not necessary. As part of the current "More animal welfare now!" campaign, the German Animal Welfare Federation is also calling on the German government to phase out animal testing in Germany: www.jetzt-mehr-tierschutz.de/tierversuche
