Against the recommendation by its agriculture and rural development committee, the European Parliament voted on Tuesday 14 March for legislation to establish EU-wide minimum welfare standards for farmed rabbits.
In a press release, rapporteur Stefan Eck (GUE/NGL, Germany) said that we must move away from the practice of shutting rabbits up in cages, and establish similar minimum standards to protect these animals as already exist for laying hens, pigs and cattle.
Eck managed to bring the plenary session round to his view after the Parliamentary committee rejected the idea of legislation at EU level (see EUROPE 11711). The amendment that he and 75 other MEPs put down ahead of the plenary session vote (see EUROPE 11743) garnered majority support (356 votes to 254, with 71 abstentions). It calls on the European Commission to present, “within an appropriate timeframe, a legislative proposal on minimum standards for the protection of farmed rabbits”.
MEPs urge member states to phase out battery cages and replace them with other systems which improve the welfare of farmed rabbits, for example, through reducing the widespread use of antibiotics. However, the EU should put in place specific support to help breeders facing increased costs as a result of having to comply with new standards.
Despite the reduction in consumption in Europe, the EU is the world’s largest producer of farmed rabbits (350 million animals), ahead of China which provides 99% of the EU’s rabbit meat imports. MEPs call for rabbit meat imported from third countries to meet the same high food safety and animal welfare criteria as the meat produced in the EU.
EPP Group disappointment. The Christian Democrat group submitted an alternative draft resolution which ultimately was rejected. “Given the scale of rabbit production in Europe (only in four countries and 1.1% of meat production) and the wide differences in legislation or private approach between producer and consumer countries and countries which have only niche production and low consumption, European legislation is unlikely to bring any added value”, stated Michel Dantin (EPP, France), casting doubt over whether the Commission will bring forward a proposal in the short term. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)