On Thursday 12 April, the European Parliament Conference of the Presidents, for the second time, rejected the call from the Greens/EFA Group for a committee of inquiry to be set up into the transport of live animals.
This was “a request which gathered the signatures of 223 MEPs”, the Greens/EFA Group points out in a press release. The group is challenging the decision by the Conference of the Presidents, rather than putting in place a committee of inquiry, to have a report prepared on the conditions under which farm animals are transported.
Pascal Durand says that the decision by the Conference of the Presidents is “unacceptable. Citizens are calling for meaningful changes on animal welfare, as attested by the success of the #stopthetrucks petition which gathered over one million signatures from all over Europe”. The Greens/EFA argue that European standards on animal transport are very frequently infringed. The group reserves the right to refer this issue to the European Court of Justice, depending on the response received from the Parliament legal service. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)