The European Commission's roadmap towards phasing out animal testing for chemical safety assessments, adopted on 1 June 2026, marked an important milestone in the transition from traditional animal testing methods to innovative non-animal approaches. Together with the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA), the European Commission organised the Animal-Free Chemical Safety Assessment and Roadmap Implementation Conference, which provided an opportunity for stakeholders to contribute to the implementation of the roadmap.
- product safety | chemical industry | animal welfare
- Monday 1 June 2026, 10:00 - Wednesday 3 June 2026, 17:15 (CEST)
- Brussels, Belgium
Practical information
- When
- Monday 1 June 2026, 10:00 - Wednesday 3 June 2026, 17:15 (CEST)
- Where
- Breydel (BREY) building - AuditoriumAvenue d'Auderghem 45, 1140 Brussels, Belgium
- Languages
- English
- Organisers
- Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs | European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA)
Description
The three-day event consisted of three parts:
On the first day, various options for fostering the use of safe spaces across different legislative areas were explored. Safe spaces were platforms for bilateral exchanges that enabled applicants or registrants to confidentially share data with regulators and discuss the potential regulatory acceptability of specific methods within a given regulatory context. Perspectives from different stakeholders were presented, followed by a panel discussion.
On the second day, a dedicated session focused on possible applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in regulatory science and its potential contribution to animal-free chemical safety assessments. The session provided an overview of the opportunities and challenges associated with the use of AI, as well as the developments required for its wider application.
In addition, on the second day, the European Commission provided an overview of the roadmap towards phasing out animal testing for chemical safety assessments and of the One-Substance-One-Assessment sub-group on test method development and validation.
The third day focused on the role that EPAA could play in accelerating the transition towards non-animal approaches. It consisted of breakout group discussions aimed at developing concrete proposals on how EPAA could support the implementation of the Roadmap over the next five years. The breakout groups focused on the following areas:
- Human Health
- Environmental Safety
- Endocrine Disruption
- Long-term Paradigm Change
Each breakout group identified priorities, collaborative actions and practical mechanisms through which EPAA could contribute to advancing the transition towards animal-free chemical safety assessment.
Conference presentations
The presentations below are organised according to the conference programme and provide further information on the topics, discussions and initiatives presented throughout the three-day event.
Contacts
General contact
- GROW-EPAA
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu