The Agriculture Ministers of Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden detailed in a note, on Thursday 7 October, their position in favour of an ambitious revision of animal welfare legislation.
In particular, these countries are calling for improvements in the provisions for pigs, dairy cows, calves, laying hens, broilers, turkeys and rabbits.
Regarding the castration of piglets, they advocate the introduction of a requirement for anaesthesia and prolonged analgesia before castration is carried out.
They also advise the Commission to keep separate texts to regulate the breeding, transport and slaughter of animals. These countries will detail their position at the Agriculture Council of the EU on 11 and 12 October in Luxembourg (see EUROPE 12807/7).
The European Commission is expected to publish a socio-economic impact assessment of the revision of the legislation in the near future, followed by an analysis of the existing legislation (June 2022), which should give an indication of the ambition of what it will propose in 2023 to revise the entire animal welfare legislation.
Link to the note by five countries: https://bit.ly/3DmGXXU (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)