LA DIRECTIVE 2010/63/UE: L’EXPLICITE ET L’IMPLICITE

On september 2010, a new European Directive for the protection of vertebrate animals used for experimental purposes was signed. It replaces the previous 1986 Directive and represents a significative change in increasing substantially the protection of experimental animals. The changes concern mainly the domain of application, the structure and the management of the animal facilities either breeding colonies or research laboratories. The whole staff should acquire qualifications more finely tuned to their duties. The authorization of projects based on their ethical value is now under control of an administrative process. These modifications impact on ways of functioning in all the establishments with for objective a better consideration of 3R (Reduction, Refinement Replacement) to the advantage of animals. However, their implementation is not always easy to do ; it is essential to find the good compromises to increase the standards of animal protection while protecting the possibility of pursuing a high quality experimental research in Europe