EU to finalize plan to phase out animal testing by March 2026

Brussels – Stop animal testing and experimentation not before March 2026, and, in any case, not immediately. The European Commission intends to revisit the sector that involves the use of animal species (mostly small rodents) for the safety of products to be marketed. However, this will require different timeframes and, therefore, a gradual approach. The Executive Vice-President for Industrial Strategy, Stephane Séjourné, provides reassurance and explanations. 

He says there is no going back in his reply to a parliamentary question raised by the Greens. On the contrary, the Commission intends to stick to its commitments. “In line with its communication responding to the European Citizens’ Initiative Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics — Commit to a Europe Without Animal Testing, the Commission intends to finalize the roadmap by the first quarter 2026 at the latest,” by the end of March of next year.

However, this does not mean that from then on, the use of animals for safety testing of products for human health will automatically cease. “Following the publication of the roadmap, the implementation phase will commence. It will start immediately, following a gradual approach,’ Séjourné points out. For some actions related to the roadmap, such as recommendations to replace more complex efficacy measurements, “where no suitable or validated non-animal methods are currently available,” the implementation of EU rules “will require years since progress will depend on the development and validation of such alternatives.”

So it requires patience, but eventually, the EU intends to reach a regime of zero animal testing. Not only that, but the intention is to use this new regime “for a broader range of EU chemicals legislation,” anticipates the executive vice-president of the European Commission. Specifically, the von der Leyen team aims to “integrate, where scientifically and legally feasible,” the new testing methodologies into the REACH regulation on chemicals under review.