Almost all Members of the European Parliament who spoke in plenary on Thursday 11 May called for EU legislation to ban the killing of male chicks.
“We should ask ourselves whether purely economic reasons can justify systematic massacres on such a large scale”, said the EU Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis. The experience of the ban in Germany and France “helps us to understand the different aspects that such a ban could have and the alternatives available”, he said (see EUROPE 13142/20).
The situation regarding the practice of slaughtering female ducklings is quite different, according to the Commission. The institution considers that it has “no evidence” of market distortion in this area that would justify EU intervention. “The Commission has therefore not included a ban on killing female ducklings in its options for revising EU animal welfare legislation”, said Valdis Dombrovskis.
Not surprisingly, MEPs called for EU rules to ban the killing of chicks. Sirpa Pietikäinen (EPP, Finnish) called for an end to this inhumane process and Seán Kelly (EPP, Irish) wants no more of these barbaric acts.
Carmen Avram (S&D, Romanian) called for EU funding to help farmers use the latest egg sexing techniques. Michal Wiezik (Renew Europe, Slovakian) and Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA, Luxembourger) also urged the Commission to act with an explicit ban on the killing of chicks. Finally, Anna Zalewska (ECR, Polish) stressed the need to take into account the costs generated as a result of the ban.
The Commission’s impact assessment on the revision of animal welfare legislation does cover the issue of the systematic culling of male chicks, confirmed Valdis Dombrovskis (see EUROPE 13167/4). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)