Crucially, we argue that the responsibility for animal welfare should not lie within the Commission’s department responsible for agriculture as it does not sufficiently cover all animal protection needs.  

Read the letter here, which asks: “As you consider the portfolios of the incoming Commission, we strongly advocate for a dedicated Commissioner for animal welfare to navigate competing interests and drive the EU towards a cruelty-free future…. [M]eaningful progress and proper implementation of existing protections requires coordinated action involving many moving parts. A Commissioner with clear responsibility for animal welfare will greatly improve the chances of meaningful progress, but they must be able to influence all areas involving the use of animals in science…  We know that non-animal science can deliver better results. The transition away from animal testing will not only save animals but also offer greater protection for human health, the environment, and better tools for EU industries.” 

The Commissioner for Animal Welfare would join 26 other Commissioners, each given a specific portfolio of responsibility, in working with the President to lead the European Comission for the next five years. 

The Commission, in response to our 2020 European Citizens’ Initiative, ‘Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics – Commit to a Europe Without Animal Testing’, which was signed by over 1.2 million EU citizens, last year promised to develop a roadmap to phase-out animal testing for chemical safety assessments. 

As a critical step towards shaping the objectives and outcomes of that roadmap, we have been working closely with a group of animal protection NGOs to bring together the Commission and key stakeholders from across the European Union. Having a dedicated Commissioner with responsibility for Animal Welfare, including the use of animals in scientific experiments such as regulatory tests for chemicals, could help to build on this work and bring us closer to realising the ultimate objective of ending animal testing.  

Statistics published in July by the European Commission show that there were 9.34 million tests on animals in the EU and Norway in 2022. This is an 8% decrease from 2021 to 2022, but a rise of 7% since 2020. In addition to these 9.34 million uses of animals, a further 9.6 million were intentionally bred and killed in laboratories, without being used in experiments, in 2022 – this brings the total uses of animals in that year to 18.9 million.  

Our Head of Public Affairs, Dylan Underhill, said: “Now more than ever we need a strong and dedicated hand to navigate competing interests and drive the EU towards a cruelty-free future. We need to see that the Commission fully understands the importance of phasing out animal testing, and the appointment of a dedicated Commissioner for Animal Welfare will help to make the issue a priority across the European Union. This role has become even more crucial since the release of the EU’s animal testing statistics for 2022, which show that overall progress in reducing the number of animals used in science in the European Union has stalled. 

“We are ready to work with any Commissioner with responsibility for Animal Welfare, alongside all relevant parts of the Commission, to ensure that all future priorities are aligned with the phase out of animal testing and can ultimately help to save the tens of millions of animals who suffer in laboratories across the EU every year.”