MEPs meeting in Strasbourg on Thursday 16 March expressed differing views on the scope of the forthcoming reform of animal welfare legislation.
In a plenary debate on animal welfare, launched by a statement from the European Commission, MEP Daniel Buda (EPP, Romanian) stressed that in some EU countries animal welfare legislation is not enforced. Too many rules should not be imposed on farmers, he said.
“There is a problem with livestock farming: transport times are too long and animals are not hydrated enough”, said Niels Fuglsang (S&D, Danish), who wants an ambitious reform of the rules. He even called for the appointment of a Commissioner to take over the animal welfare portfolio.
For Jérémy Decerle (Renew Europe, French), farmers are already doing “a lot of good things” in terms of animal welfare. He called for rules “tailored to each species”. These rules, if they are to be viable, must also be “conditioned by the standards of the products we import into Europe”. For those who are in a hurry to sign the trade agreement with Mercosur, “there is still a little bit of work to be done to adapt our rules”, Decerle warned.
Francisco Guerreiro (The Left, Portuguese) denounced the “barbaric” practices of bullfighting, still practised “in Spain, Portugal and France”.
End of cages. On behalf of the Commission, Commissioner Mairead McGuinness told MEPs that later this year the Commission will propose “an ambitious, balanced package of legislative proposals”. The aim will be to better align this legislation with current scientific knowledge and the expectations of citizens. In particular, the Commission intends to “propose the phasing out of cages used to keep certain farm animals”.
The Commission’s aim is to propose legislation that is broader in scope and easier to implement and enforce. At the same time, the legislation “will have to be balanced and take into account social and economic realities, as well as food safety”, McGuinness promised.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) will adopt further opinions on animal welfare: turkeys, cattle and farmed fish.
As citizens’ concerns extend to animal welfare beyond the EU’s borders, the Commission is “assessing the possibility of proposing import requirements” for livestock products.
“Subject to the outcome of the impact assessment, the Commission intends to propose an EU framework for animal welfare labelling to empower consumers to make animal welfare-friendly choices and to allow for a better return on investment for producers that invest in animal welfare”, the Commissioner concluded. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)