Chimpanzee Freedom Looms for Europe!

Record number of MEPs sign up for Europe-wide ban

The European Parliament

I'm sure most of you know by now from press coverage in September, that Written Declaration 40/2007 finally achieved 433 signatures from MEPs, way over the target number of 393 (half of all MEPs) required for the Declaration to pass to the next legislative stage. And many of the UK MEPs might never have signed were it not for the letters written to them by PACE members.

So a BIG THANK YOU from PACE and our colleague organisations NAVS and Animal Defenders International to all those members who took the time and trouble to write to one or more of their MEPs.

The Written Declaration states:

The European Parliament
1. Urges the Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament to use the revision process of Directive 86/609/EC as an opportunity to:
(a) make ending the use of apes and wild-caught monkeys in scientific experiments an urgent priority,
(b) establish a timetable for replacing the use of all primates in scientific experiments with alternatives;

However, before we start popping the champagne, we have to realise that in the EU legislation is not a simple matter of a vote in the European Parliament which would be easily won by our side. Nor is the fact that the prior public consultation resulted in no fewer than 83% of 42,000 respondents stating their view that experimenting on apes was unacceptable, likely to carry much weight.

For one thing, from the moment the Commission announced in 2001 its intention of revising Directive 86/609 (the term for the current legislation regulating animal experiments) the big guns of biomedical research and pharmaceutical testing have been mustering to make sure that their freedom to do as they please with laboratory animal experiments is extended rather than restricted. A new organisation was brought into being especially for this purpose named the European Coalition for Biomedical Research (www.ecbr.eu) which opposes any ban on the use of great apes and is determined that no changes get adopted which might reduce the numbers of monkeys imported into the EU for laboratory work. This new organisation is likely to have plentiful resources and lobbying power behind it.

It is going to be a long while before we have a definitive outcome on this vital issue during which time members may be asked to write more letters, this time to UK ministers. Although in the UK no licences have been issued to allow chimps to be experimental subjects for many years, the current policy is by no means enshrined in law. Only Holland, Austria and Sweden have actually legislated against the use of apes within Europe.

But let's be optimistic. If we and our colleague organisations keep up the pressure over the coming months (and years if required) we have a good chance of winning.. Compassion and reason and ethics are all on our side!!

List of UK MEPs by Region (italics indicate those who did NOT sign WD 40/2007

East Midlands (Derbys, Leics, South Lincs incl Louth, Skegness, Boston, Lincoln, Northants, Notts, Rutland)

Mr Derek Clark MEP (UKIP)
Mr Chris Heaton-Harris MEP (Con)
Mr Bill Newton-Dunn MEP (LibDem)
Ms Glenis Willmott MEP (Lab)
Roger Helmer MEP (Con)
Mr Robert Kilroy-Silk MEP (Indep)

Eastern (Beds, Cambs, Essex, Herts, Norfolk, Suffolk)

Mr Christopher Beazley MEP (Con)
Mr Robert Sturdy MEP (Con)
Mr Geoffrey Van Orden MEP (Con)
Mr Andrew Duff MEP (LibDem)
Mr Richard Howitt MEP (Lab)
Mr Jeffrey Titford MEP (UKIP)
Mr Tom Wise MEP (UKIP)

London (Greater London - the 74 parliamentary constituencies)

Mr John Bowis MEP (Con)
Mr Robert Evans MEP (Lab)
Mrs Jean Lambert MEP (Green)
Mr Claude Moraes MEP(Lab)
Mr Charles Tannock MEP (Con)
Dr Syed Kamall MEP (Con)
Mr Gerard Batten MEP (UKIP)
Ms Mary Honeyball MEP (Lab)
The Baroness Ludford MEP (LibDem)

North East (Durham, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Cleveland)

Mr Stephen Hughes MEP (Lab)
Mr Martin Callanan MEP (Con)
Ms Fiona Hall MEP (LibDem)

North West (Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancs, Merseyside)

Sir Robert Atkins MEP (Con)
Mr Chris Davies MEP (LibDem)
Mr Densmore Dover MEP (Con)
Mr Sajjad Karim MEP (LibDem)
Ms Arlene McCarthy MEP (Lab)
Mr Brian Simpson MEP (Lab)
Mr David Sumberg MEP (Con)
Mr Gary Titley MEP (Lab)
Dr John Whittaker MEP (UKIP)

South East (East Sussex, West Sussex, Berks, Bucks, Oxon, Hants, Isle of Wight, Kent, Surrey)

Mr Richard Ashworth MEP (Con)
Ms Sharon Bowles MEP (LibDem)
Dr Caroline Lucas MEP (Green)
Mr Peter Skinner MEP (Lab)
Mr Nirj Deva MEP (Con)
Mr James Elles MEP (Con)
Mr Nigel Farage MEP (UKIP)
Mr Daniel Hannan MEP (Con)
Mr Ashley Mote MEP (Indep)
The Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne MEP (LibDem)

South West (Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Glos, Wilts, Isles of Scilly, Gibraltar)

Mr Giles Chichester MEP (Con)
Mr Glyn Ford MEP (Lab)
Mr Neil Parish MEP (Con)
Mr Graham Booth MEP (UKIP)
Dr Caroline Jackson MEP (Con)
Mr Roger Knapman MEP (UKIP)
Mr Graham Watson MEP (LibDem)

West Midlands (Herefordshire, Shrops, Staffs, Warks, Worcs)

Mr Philip Bushill-Matthews MEP (Con)
Michael Cashman MEP (Lab)
Ms Neena Gill MEP (Lab)
Mr Malcolm Harbour MEP (Con)
Ms Liz Lynne MEP (LibDem)
Mr Mike Nattrass MEP (UKIP)
Mr Philip Bradbourn MEP (Con)

Yorkshire and the Humber (Yorks, NE Lincs incl Grimsby, Cleethorpes)

Mr Richard Corbett MEP (Lab)
Mr Timothy Kirkhope MEP (Con)
Ms Linda McAvan MEP (Lab)
Edward McMillan-Scott MEP (Con)
Mr Godfrey Bloom MEP (UKIP)
Ms Diana Wallis MEP (LibDem)

Northern Ireland

Ms Baibre de Brún MEP MLA (Sinn Fein)
Mr James Nicholson MEP (Ulster Unionist)
Mr Jim Allister MEP QC (Indep)

Scotland

Ms Elspeth Attwooll MEP (LibDem)
Mr Ian Hudghton MEP (SNP)
Mr David Martin MEP (Lab)
Mr John Purvis MEP (Con)
Mr Alyn Smith MEP (SNP)
Mr Struan Stevenson MEP (Con)
Mrs Catherine Stihler MEP (Lab)

Wales

Mrs Jillian Evans MEP (Green)
Mr Jonathan Evans MEP (Con)
Mrs Glenys Kinnock MEP (Lab)
Ms Eluned Morgan MEP (Lab)

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