Brussels, 27/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - On 27 June, the European Commission sent Ireland a reasoned opinion asking it to comply with the Court of Justice ruling of 18 October 2001 concerning the directive on the protection of animals used for experimental purposes or other scientific purposes. The Court considered in substance that Ireland use too restrictive a definition for the notion of experiments and had to, moreover, set adequate sentences applicable to people undertaking abusive practices in the matter. Last March, the Commission had already sent Dublin an initial warning, but it remained unanswered. Ireland now has two months to align its legislation on the Court's ruling, otherwise the Commission could decide to take it back to court and propose a daily fine.