mr president i welcome the commission's initiative
i think it is an important achievement that we have managed to agree on the harmonisation of practices in the area of animal experimentation in the eu
this directive marks an important step in ensuring that experiments on live animals for scientific purposes will be replaced as soon as it is scientifically feasible to do so
this directive will first oblige the member states to promote the advancement of alternative methods
i strongly urge the member states to ensure that adequate funding is provided for training research development and the implementation of scientifically satisfactory methods or testing strategies that do not entail the use of animals
