Commission tables a fraction of promised animal welfare package

The European Commission has made proposals for stricter rules on animal transport and pets, but campaigners have lambasted a number of loopholes, while large parts of the originally envisaged animal welfare overhaul have been left to the next mandate.

Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and Animal Welfare Commissioner Stella Kyriakides presented proposals on Thursday (7 December) to update and tighten EU legislation on the transport of live animals, as well as the welfare of cats and dogs during breeding and trading.

The proposals come in lieu of the comprehensive overhaul of all EU animal welfare legislation that the Commission had originally promised as part of the Farm to Fork Strategy but has now given up on tabling before the end of the mandate next year.

“The work is ongoing,” Šefčovič told a press conference when asked about the omission of large parts of the originally envisaged package. “We have to realise that it is extremely technical and demanding.”

However, since the EU executive does not plan to make further proposals on animal welfare before next June’s EU election, it will be up to the next Commission to decide anew about when and which initiatives should be tabled.

Meanwhile, Kyriakides stressed the relevance of the revamp of animal transport rules the EU executive now tabled by pointing to the fact that the current legislation on the matter is 19 years old.

Rules on journey times and temperatures

The proposed new rules for animal transport include a maximum journey time of nine hours for animals meant for slaughter. Currently, there is no EU-set limit for how long the journey to a slaughterhouse can last.

For other live animal transports, the Commission proposes a maximum journey time of two times 21 hours, with 24 hours of rest in between, during which animals must be fed and given water.

However, these maximum journey times do not include sea transport, meaning that, on sea vessels, animals can be transported for longer.

“For a normal sea voyage under normal conditions, the risks are smaller [than for road transport], and the animals can move around more,” a high-ranking Commission official said in justification of the exemption.

The Commission also proposed limits on journeys in extreme temperatures, including a provision that when day temperatures are above 30 degrees Celsius. transport is only allowed at night.

European Parliament calls for better animal protection during transport

The European Parliament has adopted recommendations for tougher and more effective animal protection rules during live transports. Some, however, bemoan lacking ambition and call for a hard limit on the duration of journeys.

No third-country export ban

Meanwhile, the proposal does not include a ban on live animal exports to non-EU countries – a step animal welfare campaigners and some lawmakers had called for, and which Germany and Luxembourg have already implemented to the fullest extent possible on the national level.

“According to our impact assessment, this would not be an efficient policy measure,” Kyriakides said when asked about the omission.

A ban, she argued, would mean third countries would import live animals from other countries that are further away and have lower animal welfare standards than the EU, while it would also “have a negative impact on the EU production chain”.

But animal welfare organisation Compassion in World Farming called the proposal on animal transport a “missed opportunity.”

“The draft EU animal transport law shows some desire to improve EU animal protection rules, yet it manifestly lacks ambition,” said Olga Kikou, head of the organisation.

Apart from the decision not to include a live export ban, Kikou also criticised “new loopholes” created by omitting sea transport from the rules on maximum journey times.

Germany tightens animal transport rules, urges EU-wide follow-up

Germany will further restrict the transport of live animals to countries outside the EU, but without EU-wide regulation, the Agriculture Ministry’s push could remain ineffective.

A step forward?

Meanwhile, Green lawmaker Thomas Waitz made similar criticisms but took a more optimistic stance.

“Every single improvement means less animal suffering on Europe’s roads,” he said in a statement, adding the proposal is “a step forward but lacks ambition regarding maximum transport times for ship transports, rules on extreme temperatures and more precise regulations on exports to third countries”.

Meanwhile, Animalhealth Europe, which represents manufacturers of animal medicines, welcomed the inclusion of new technologies, such as digital tracking systems, in the animal transport proposal, saying this would allow for “greater transparency”.

And in the view of EU farmers’ association Copa-Cogeca, the proposal includes “restrictive rules that are far from the practical experience, counterproductive to animal welfare, and discriminatory to some member states.”

In a statement, the organisation also warned a nine-hour limit on transport times would mean that “farmers in some member states would immediately lose access to many slaughterhouses.”

Germany’s Green Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, on the other hand, bemoaned the fact that large parts of the originally envisaged package were not tabled.

“It is regrettable that, contrary to its promise, the Commission has not presented any proposals for greater animal welfare in animal husbandry and slaughter,” he said in a statement.

Tentative steps on citizens’ fur farming initiative

Meanwhile, Kyriakides and Šefčovič also addressed the citizens’ initiative “Fur Free Europe,” in which 1.5 million EU citizens called for a ban on fur farming in the EU.

The Commission did not table a legislative proposal on the matter at this point. Instead, the commissioners announced that the EU executive has tasked the EU Food Safety Authority EFSA with “a scientific opinion on the welfare of animals farmed for fur”.

A decision on legislative action is then set to be taken on the basis of this opinion, which, however, is only due to be finalised by March 2025.

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[Edited by Natasha Foote/Zoran Radosavljevic]

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