NGOs pressure Commission to include animal welfare in next vision of future of farming

3 months ago 18

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen has announced that her new Commission will unveil a ‘Vision for Agriculture and Food’ in the first 100 days in office, but associations are calling for animal welfare to be included in it as von der Leyen did not mention the topic in her investiture speech in the European Parliament.

“President von der Leyen’s speech to the European Parliament and her political guidelines (…) remained silent on delivering the legally-binding commitment to end caged farming and the broader revision of the animal welfare legislation,” Olga Kikou, director of advocacy at the European Institute for Animal Law and Policy, said in a press release.

The European Commission announced a major review of animal welfare legislation in 2020, before admitting at the end of the mandate that it would be the responsibility of the next Commission.

By December 2023, only two pieces of legislation had been proposed, one on animal transport and the other on the welfare and traceability of pets.

“There is still an opportunity for the president to include the requests of the vast majority of Europeans and put the revision of the animal welfare legislation back on the agenda by including it in her Vision for Agriculture and Food,” concluded Kikou.

Illegal practices

NGOs are stepping up pressure on the Commission’s future initiatives but also on enforcement of the current rules.

On Thursday (25 July), around twenty organisations sent a letter to the Commission, seen by Euractiv, calling for a stricter implementation of the legislation on the transport of live animals.

According to the associations, unweaned Irish calves are being transported to France without being fed during the ferry crossing, contravening the EU regulation.

The Commission itself acknowledged this breach of the law in its audit report dated 22 December 2023, which concluded that the Irish authorities should “provide, within 25 working days of receipt of the report,” detailed information on the measures taken to comply with the rules.

However, these have not been provided.

“We urge the Commission to take effective measures to halt this trade,” the associations said.

Cage farming and the ECI

In March, the ‘End the Cage Age’ campaigners took legal action against the European Commission over its alleged failure to deliver on a promise to work towards phasing out cages in poultry farming.

For the NGOs, another priority for next term is the end of fur in Europe. In 2023, a citizens’ initiative (ECI) “No fur in Europe” (Fur Free Europe) collected more than 1.5 million signatures.

Changes to slaughtering rules and animal welfare labelling are also among the eagerly awaited issues.

On Wednesday (24 July), a new European citizens’ initiative was registered.

The ‘Stop Cruelty Stop Slaughter’ campaigners called on the Commission to reduce the number of farm animals and progressively close all animal farms, incentivising the production of alternative proteins, such as milk and egg substitutes of plant origin and cultivated meat.