Press Release: Environment: European Commission asks Court to impose financial penalties on Italy

On 23 January 2014, the European Commission decided to refer Italy to the EU Court of Justice for its failure to include rules on animal testing into its domestic legislation. This is an issue on which there is considerable public concern, and Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes was to be enacted in national legislation by 10 November 2012.