Council Directive 86/609/EEC on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States regarding the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes.

The aim pursued by this Directive is to ensure that where animals are used for experimental or other scientific purposes the provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative provisions in the Member States for their protection are approximated so as to avoid affecting the establishment and functioning of the common market, in particular by distorsions of competition or barriers to trade. For the purposes of this Directive, animal means, unless otherwise qualified, any live non-human vertebrate, including free-living larval and reproducing larval forms, but excluding foetal or embryonic forms (art. 2). Article 3 defines the types of use of animals in experiments to which these provisions shall apply. An experiment shall not be performed if another scientifically satisfactory method for obtaining the result sought, not entailing the use of an animal, is reasonably and practicably available. Each Member State shall ensure that experiments using animals considered as endangered under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora and Annex C.I of Regulation (EEC) No. 3626/82 are prohibited unless they are in conformity with the above-mentioned Regulation and the objects of the experiment are research aimed at preservation of the species in question, or essential biomedical purposes where the species in question exceptionally proves to be the only one suitable for those purposes. Article 5 defines the conditions for keeping animals for experimental purposes as regards particularly food, housing, water and care. Each Member State shall designate the authority or authorities responsible for verifying that the provisions of this Directive are properly carried out. This Directive does not prejudice nor restrict the right of the Member States to apply or adopt stricter measures for the protection of animals used in experiments or for the control and restriction of the use of animals for experiments. In particular, Member States may require a prior authorization for experiments or programmes of work notified in accordance with the provisions of article 12 (1). Further provisions regard personnel qualifications, protection measures against cruelty and sufferings.