Member States are allowed to impose a reversible and non-deadly stunning procedure in the context of ritual slaughter without jeopardising the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the EU Court of Justice ruled on Thursday 17 December (Case C-336/19).
The Court of Justice therefore did not follow the conclusions of the Advocate General (see EUROPE 12557/32).
The Belgian Constitutional Court referred the matter to the Court following a complaint by several Jewish and Muslim associations against a decree issued by the Flemish Region which had the effect of prohibiting the slaughter of animals according to traditional rites and requiring animals to be stunned before they were slaughtered.
In the Court’s view, the measures contained in the decree make it possible to ensure a fair balance between the importance attached to animal welfare and the freedom of Jewish and Muslim believers to practice their religion, “such interference being in pursuit of an objective of general interest recognised by the Union, namely the promotion of animal welfare”.
Slaughter without stunning is allowed by way of derogation in the EU in order to ensure respect for freedom of religion, but it is up to the Member States to grant these derogations.
In its judgment, the Court considers that the latest developments in reversible stunning are a method of successfully reconciling religious freedom and animal welfare.
This issue could be brought back into the debate, as the Commission has proposed a review as part of its farm to fork strategy covering all EU legislation on animal welfare, from farming to transport to slaughter.
The Eurogroup for Animals welcomed the Court’s judgment, arguing that “it is now time for the EU to make stunning before slaughter always compulsory in the next revision of the slaughter regulation”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)