On Thursday 12 October, a large majority of MEPs who took part in a hearing in the European Parliament on the Fur Free Europe Citizens’ Initiative supported the ECI’s ambitions, namely an EU-wide ban on the farming and slaughter of animals for the purpose of producing fur.
The ECI also calls on the European Commission to ban fur and fur-containing products from being placed on the market in the EU (see EUROPE 12912/30), a request supported by several MEPs.
The European Commission must now respond to this ECI before the end of the year. At present, 20 Member States have already introduced a total or partial ban on fur farming. Last month, Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda signed a law banning fur farms, which will come fully into force on 1 January 2027.
Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA, German) called on the Commission to put its words into action. In his view, there is no economic reason to maintain the fur industry.
David Cormand (Greens/EFA, French), Francisco Guerreiro (Greens/EFA, Portuguese) and Martin Hojsík (Renew Europe, Slovakian) all expressed support for a ban that would also cover fur product imports.
Caroline Roose (Greens/EFA, French) recalled that 12 EU countries had asked the Commission to ban fur farming (see EUROPE 13210/11).
Only Mazaly Aguilar (ECR, Spanish) defended the sector’s breeders, arguing that if furs were banned in the EU, Europeans might import products from third countries.
Labelling of fur content. A representative of the Commission said that animal welfare in the fur sector had to be assessed “while taking account of the economic and social consequences”. Most fur in the EU is exported to meet external demand, she pointed out. Fur farming is carried out by SMEs and micro-enterprises. The retail value is very important, added the Commission representative. She announced a forthcoming review of legislation on textile labelling, with “harmonised and potentially mandatory labelling on the presence of real fur in all clothing”.
General review. David Cormand felt that refusing to launch a review of animal welfare legislation was tantamount to turning one’s back on the Commission’s commitments and the calls from the public.
Caroline Roose said she was “outraged” by the fact that the Commission appeared to have given up on publishing the proposal revising animal welfare.
Another Commission representative assured that animal welfare remained a priority for the institution (see EUROPE 13264/16). “The preparatory work is ongoing”, he said. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)