The European Citizens’ Initiative for a Europe without animal testing has been approved with more than 1.2 million signatures!

The European Commission must now meet activists and respond to citizens’ concerns. With more than ten million animals suffering each year from experiments led within the EU and new non-animal technologies being developed more quickly than ever, it is time to change course.

«Non-animal approaches to ensure the safety of cosmetics and other consumer products have been routinely used in the EU for decades. There is no reason to test ingredients on animals when advanced non-animal assessment strategies are available and offer reliable alternatives to animal testing. With this ECI, we call on the European Commission to commit to actions that can ensure the protection of human health and the environment by managing chemicals without the use of animals, and to invest in human-based, non-animal approaches for regulatory decision-making.»Muriel Arnal, President of One Voice and Member of the ECI Organising Committee«Forcing cosmetic ingredients on to defenceless animals, deliberately injecting them with incapacitating diseases, or drilling holes in their skulls are practices that must stop. A radical overhaul of the system on an EU level is needed to ensure this change.»Sabrina Engel, President of the ECI Organising Committee, PETA Germany.«This European Citizens’ Initiative strongly supports the request from the European Parliament to definitively get rid of tests on animals. With citizens’ voices being added to the chorus of protests, the Commission cannot ignore vehement calls to speed up the transition to non-animal science.»Tilly Metz, Member of the European Parliament (The Greens/European Free Alliance)«With the threat that the chemical product strategy poses to animals in laboratories, this ECI could not be more timely. From today, no additional tests on animals should be carried out to fill the gaps in informing on chemical products. We need to move to a safer more ethical system for evaluating them.»Sirpa Pietikäinen, Member of the European Parliament (European People’s Party Group)«The message from citizens has never been as clear or aligned with scientific, industry, NGO, and political views. Everyone understands that a progressive elimination plan for animal testing is necessary for everyone’s good: humans, other animals, and the environment. Now, the Commission must listen to citizens and act in order to make this plan a reality.»Anja Hazekamp, left-wing Member of the European Parliament«European citizens have been calling for cruelty free cosmetics for a long time. This European Citizens’ Initiative is another reminder for the Commission that they will not continue to do nothing while gaps in legislation are not being filled to put an end to all cosmetics testing on animals.»Niels Fuglsang (Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats)

The three fundamental requests of the ECI are:

• the rigorous implementation of a ban by the EU on tests on animals for cosmetic ingredients;
• a total move to non-animal methods for chemical safety tests;
• a commitment in favour of a plan aiming to progressively eliminate all experiments on animals.

Launched in August 2021 by Cruelty Free Europe, the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (the two coalitions for which One Voice is the historical French representative), Eurogroup for Animals, and PETA, the ECI has been supported by beauty and care businesses worldwide — The Body Shop, Dove, and Lush — and actively promoted by a coalition between associations and activists in the whole of Europe. Hundreds of celebrities have also supported the campaign, including Sir Paul McCartney, Ricky Gervais, Finnish heavy metal group Lordi, Italian singer Red Canzian, French journalist Hugo Clément, and actress Evanna Lynch.

No other ECI has received such support in so many different countries. To be successful, an ECI most receive at least one million valid signatures and reach a minimum number of signatures in at least seven EU countries. This ECI has surpassed this goal in 22 countries, showing a Pan-European desire to abolish tests on animals.

Thanks again to all those who signed who, with us, have committed for an end to animal testing in Europe during the last year!

Translated from the French by Joely Justice