WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2926/97 by Anne McINTOSH to the Commission. Funding of Higher Education in the United Kingdom
C 117/102 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 16. 4. 98 (98/C 117/130) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2924/97 by Patricia McKenna (V) to the Commission (17 September 1997) Subject: Laboratory rodents A recent report by Michael Festing of Britainís Medical Research Councilís toxicology unit at the University of Leicester has shown how thousands of laboratory rodents are being sacrificed each year in toxicity tests which are scientifically flawed. Has the Commission studied this report? What proposals does the Commission have to phase out the use of animals in toxicity tests and to facilitate the development of alternatives to animal testing? Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (23 October 1997) The work to which the Honourable Member refers is well known. It shows that toxicology studies often involve the use of unnecessarily large numbers of animals, and sometimes produce data which are inadequately analysed because of the use of inappropriate statistical methods. Through its European centre for the validation of alternative methods (ECVAM) of the Joint research centre (JRC), the Commission is coordinating the validation of alternative methods at Community level and a local point of information exchange about the state of the art of alternative methods is being built. In addition, research into the development of in-vitro tests as alternatives to animal experiments has been one of the priorities for the various Community Biotechnology indirect action programmes for more than 10 years. (98/C 117/131) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2926/97 by Anne McIntosh (PPE) to the Commission (17 September 1997) Subject: Funding of Higher Education in the United Kingdom The report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education in the UK, chaired by Sir Ron Dearing, has recommended that emphasis should be placed on an increase in the provision of one and two year courses. Can the Commission confirm that such study periods would be eligible for European Union funding and if there is a minimum duration course period to qualify for EU financial assistance? Will such courses, of one or two years duration, be recognized as higher education qualifications in other Member States? Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (14 November 1997) Community funding is available to support cooperation between higher education institutions in the Member States, notably through the Erasmus chapter of the Socrates programme and through the Leonardo da Vinci programme