European Commission answers written question on the transposition of Directive 2010/63/EU into Polish law

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European Commission answers written question on the transposition of Directive 2010/63/EU into Polish law

26 October 2020
News
To the written question on the Polish transposition of the Directive 2010/63/EU, Mr Sinkevičius answered, on behalf of the European Commission, that an infringement procedure is currently pending and that a reasoned opinion was issued in July 2020.

In July 2020, the European Commission issued a reasoned opinion and urged Poland to ensure compliance with the Laboratory Animals Directive.

On 3 September, MEP Sylwia Spurek submitted the following written question to the Commission:  In July 2020, a draft Polish law amending the Law on the protection of animals used for scientific or educational purposes was published. It included a number of changes in the implementation in Poland of the procedures referred to in Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2010 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes (‘the directive’). Currently the draft is at the submission of opinions stage. In view of the planned amendments to the Polish law referred to above, I would like to ask:

1. In the Commission's view, as of 1 September 2020 has Poland correctly transposed the Directive in accordance with Article 38 thereof (providing provisions on project evaluation)? If not, please indicate the extent to which Polish legislation does not meet the requirements of the Directive, in particular as regards the requirement to select methods which cause the least pain and suffering in accordance with Article 13, in connection with Article 38 of the Directive.

2. Is the Commission aware that Poland has never set up a point of contact as referred to in Article 47(5) of the Directive, nor is it provided for in the proposed draft?

3. Is the Commission aware that, contrary to Article 42(2)(b) of the Directive, neither the existing law nor the proposed draft requires a project evaluation in accordance with Article 38 in relation to commercial testing, for which a simplified administrative procedure is applied (Article 42 of the Directive)?

The Commission answered on 22 October that there is a pending infringement procedure (1) concerning the non-compliance of Polish law with Directive 2010/63/EU (2). On 2 July 2020, the Commission issued a reasoned opinion and urged Poland to correctly transpose this Directive (3). On 2 October 2020, Poland submitted a reply to the reasoned opinion, together with the draft legislation referred to above. The reply and the draft legislation are currently under analysis. Should the non-compliance persist, the Commission may refer the case to the Court of Justice of the EU. According to the information available to the Commission, Poland has appointed the contact point under Article 47(5) of Directive 2010/63/EU. The name and contact details are published online (4).