Overview
The European Commission presented the roadmap towards phasing out animal testing for chemical safety assessments in June 2026.
This roadmap sets out clear objectives and concrete steps to transition from traditional animal testing to innovative non-animal approaches, while ensuring high levels of protection for human and animal health and the environment.
The Joint Research Centre, through our EU Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM), contributed significantly to the development of the roadmap and is playing an active role in its implementation.
EURL ECVAM activities supporting roadmap actions
Transitional initiatives
We have established a dynamic catalogue of transitional initiatives to inform prioritisation efforts and foster communities of practice in regulatory science. You are encouraged to notify the JRC about your initiative.
EURL ECVAM open access
We run an experimental facility that is engaged in the development, validation and standardisation of in vitro methods. You can apply to get access to our state-of-the-art instrumentation and knowhow through an open call.
3Rs education and training
EURL ECVAM continues to engage in education for schools, universities and young professionals, and provides open access educational resources, such as our virtual reality in vitro lab experience.
Monitoring progress so we can manage it
We need different types of indicators to measure and facilitate progress towards the goal of the roadmap. Currently we compile the statistics on the use of animals for scientific purposes,published as a yearly summary report under the Directive for the Protection of Animals in Science by the Directorate-General for the Environment, based on the data collected in EU countries and Norway and reported in the ALURES database.
EU-NETVAL
We coordinate the EU Network of Laboratories for the validation of alternative methods (EU-NETVAL) that supports the transition of relevant non-animal methods into regulatory use.
PARERE
We collect views on the potential regulatory relevance of methods or approaches submitted to EURL ECVAM for validation and/or peer review by consulting with our Member States Network for Preliminary Assessment of Regulatory Relevance (PARERE).
Long-term regulatory solutions
Our vision is a new regulatory framework based only on non-animal approaches. To this end, we play a leading role in the EPAA Designathon.
Policy background
The roadmap towards phasing out animal testing envisages the implementation of a comprehensive set of short, medium and longer term actions across 15 legislative domains. These span industrial chemicals, consumer products, pesticides, biocides, human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, food and feed additives, and verification of medical device biocompatibility.
The EU is committed to phasing out animal testing in biomedical research and regulatory science as soon as scientifically feasible. This ambition is rooted in EU policy.
Read more about this and the development of the roadmap on the website of the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs: Roadmap towards phasing out animal testing.
Related links
EURL ECVAM status report 2025: Non-animal methods in science and regulation
Commission Communication: Roadmap towards phasing out animal testing for chemical safety assessments
Staff working document accompanying the Roadmap towards phasing out animal testing
Factsheet: Roadmap towards phasing out animal testing for chemical safety assessments
Q&A: Roadmap towards phasing out animal testing for chemical safety assessments
