Brussels, 23/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - An astronomical fine is looming for Italy because of its continued infringement of European law on experimenting on animals, the European Commission announced on Thursday 23 January. Lodging an appeal with the Court of Justice of the EU against Italy for not transposing Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, the Commission has called on the Court to impose a daily penalty of €150,787 on Italy.
The directive should have been transposed by the member states by 10 November 2012 at the latest. However, the Italian authorities have turned a deaf ear to several earlier calls to order. If Italy refuses to comply, the fine with which it is threatened will have to be paid from the day the Court's judgment is pronounced and until Italy has completed the transposition.
After receiving a letter of formal notice dated 31 January 2013 (first stage of an infringement procedure) and a reasoned opinion on 21 June 2013 (second stage), Italy announced that transposition was planned for December 2013, before postponing it until February 2014. The Commission is wary and wants to prevent the risk of further postponement.
Directive 2010/63/EU aims to reduce the use of animals for experiments - particularly vertebrates and cephalopods - and has imposed an obligation to use alternative methods where possible, while ensuring that the very high level of quality in research in the EU is maintained. (AN/transl.fl)