L 66/26 Official Journal of the European Union 11.3.2003 DIRECTIVE 2003/15/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 27 February 2003 amending Council Directive 76/768/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to cosmetic products (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 95 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (!), Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 3 December 2002 (°), Whereas: (1) Council Directive 76/768/EEC (*) has comprehensively harmonised the national laws relating to cosmetic products and has as its main objective the protection of public health. To this end, it continues to be indispen- sable to carry out certain toxicological tests to evaluate the safety of cosmetic products. (2)  The Protocol on protection and welfare of animals annexed by the Treaty of Amsterdam to the Treaty establishing the European Community provides that the Community and the Member States are to pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals in the implemen- tation of Community policies, in particular with regard to the internal market. (3)  Council Directive 86/609/EEC of 24 November 1986 on the approximation of laws, regulations and administra- tive provisions of the Member States regarding the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes () has established common rules for the use of animals for experimental purposes within the Community and laid down the conditions under which such experiments must be carried out in the territory of the Member States. In particular, Article 7 of that Direc- tive requires that animal experiments be replaced by alternative methods, when such methods exist and are () OJ C 311 E, 31.10.2000, p. 134 and OJ C 51 E, 26.2.2002, p. 385. () O] C 367, 20.12.2000, p. 1. (*) Opinion of the European Parliament of 3 April 2001 (O] C 21 E, 24.1.2002, p. 24), Council Common Position of 14 February 2002 (O] C 113 E, 14.5.2002, p. 109) and Decision of the European Parliament of 11 June 2002 (not yet published in the Official Journal). Decision of the European Parliament of 15 January 2003 and Decision of the Council of 27 February 2003. (*) OJ L 262,27.7.1976, p. 169. Directive as last amended by Commis- sion Directive 2002/34/EC (O] L 102, 18.4.2002, p. 19). () OJ L 358, 18.12.1986, p. 1. scientifically satisfactory. In order to facilitate the devel- opment and use of alternative methods in the cosmetic sector which do not use live animals, specific provisions have been introduced by Council Directive 93/35/EEC of 14 June 1993 amending for the sixth time Directive 76/ 768[EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to cosmetic products (%). However, these provisions concern only alternative methods which do not use animals and they do not take account of alternative methods developed in order to reduce the number of animals used for experiments or to reduce their suffering. Therefore, in order to afford optimal protection to animals used for testing cosmetic products pending implementation of the prohibition of animal tests for cosmetic products and the marketing of animal-tested cosmetic products in the Community, these provisions should be amended in order to provide for the systematic use of alternative methods, which reduce the number of animals used or reduce the suffering caused, in those cases where full replacement alternatives are not yet available, as provided by Article 7(2) and (3) of Directive 86/609/EEC, when these methods offer consumers a level of protection equivalent to that of the conventional methods which they are intended to replace. (4)  In accordance with Directive 86/609/EEC and with Directive 93/35/EEC, it is essential that the aim of abol- ishing animal experiments for testing cosmetic products be pursued and that the prohibition of such experiments becomes effective in the territory of the Member States. In order to ensure that this prohibition is fully imple- mented, it may be necessary for the Commission to bring forward further proposals to amend Directive 86/ 609/EEC. (5)  Currently, only alternative methods which are scientifi- cally validated by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) or the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and applicable to the whole chemical sector are systemati- cally adopted at Community level. However, the safety of cosmetic products and their ingredients may be ensured through the use of alternative methods which are not necessarily applicable to all uses of chemical ingredients. Therefore, the use of such methods by the whole cosmetic industry should be promoted and their adoption at Community level ensured, when such methods offer an equivalent level of protection to consu- mers. () OJ L 151, 23.6.1993, p. 32.