One month left to call for a Europe without animal testing

Last year, One Voice and numerous committed associations, alliances, and brands joined forces to launch a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) against animal experimentation, specifically in relation to cosmetics. The cut-off date of 31 August 2022 is approaching and we are asking you again to sign and share (see the end of this article) this initiative as widely as possible.

A committed political act

A petition is generally not binding on its recipients. But an ECI is much more than a petition because if it receives more than one million signatures, the European Commission is obliged to look into the requests and to respond to them.

Signing the ECI is therefore truly a committed political act.

The requests of the SaveCrueltyFreeCosmetics ECI

You have three reasons to sign this ECI:

1. Guaranteeing and reinforcing a ban on animal testing for cosmetics

In fact, according to an analysis published in 2021, more than 60 exclusively cosmetic ingredients have been tested on animals in the European Union despite bans on these tests since 2009 and 2013. And that is without counting the thousands of ingredients with multiple uses. We informed you about our concerns on this dramatic setback…

2. Overhaul the EU regulations relating to chemical products

These regulations regularly force businesses to practice tests on animals, particularly when it comes to plastics and other petroleum products, but also metals, dyes, essential oils, and so on.

3. Establish a roadmap to leave animal testing behind

In September 2021, the European Parliament unanimously passed a motion to move away from animal testing.

Signing the ECI will allow us to keep pressure on the European Union for a truly ambitious policy to come into force!

We still need to find more than 300,000 signatures

Eleven countries, France being one, have reached the minimum threshold of signatures, which completes the first criterion necessary for the ECI to be successful. The second criterion is to reach one million signatures – without counting any duplicates. Our Members of the European Parliament are in agreement with us, they are in favour of an action plan to get away from animal testing. The European Commission is the only one left to catch on. We are counting on you to help us to reach this goal!

With already more than 100,000 signatures (almost 200% of the national threshold), France figures prominently among the signatories. But now is not the time to ease off, there is not a moment to lose: other countries have gone even further. Slovakia is at almost 250%, Finland and Germany at almost 300%, Bulgaria has passed 300%, and the Czech Republic is about to reach 600% of its signature threshold!

And there are still around 300,000 left to reach the minimum threshold... You can participate in change for animals used in laboratories!

To help in finding a way out of animal testing, you can sign the ECI (if you have not already done so) and encourage those close to you and your network to do the same and to share the link http://savecrueltyfree.eu or https://endanimaltesting.eu/fr as well as the QR Code.

To motivate them, you can explain to those close to you that the signing process is very simple nowadays and can be done without an identity card. You can also remind them that, despite appearances, this is not just a simple petition, but a political process which could have a real and profound impact.

Tweet templates to share:

Message template to share on your other social networks: Facebook, Instagram, etc.:

One month left to reach the one million signatures needed for the #SaveCrueltyFreeCosmetics ECI! Without it, progress against #AnimalTesting is not possible. Sign, share, talk about it with everyone you know! http://www.savecrueltyfree.eu/ @onevoiceanimal #EndAnimalTesting

Translated from the French by Joely Justice