Action time for animal rights? European Commission challenged to deliver on revision pledge

15 Sep 2023 --- Animal protection lobbyists are calling on the European Commission (EC) to finally deliver on its promise to revise its animal welfare legislation before the end of the year in line with the latest science and societal expectations. 

EC President Ursula von der Leyen faced criticism this week, including from several MEPs, after failing to address animal rights in her State of the European Union speech, in which she outlined priorities for the remainder of the year.

Compassion in World Farming condemned von der Leyen for shelving the EC’s commitment to ban caged farming despite 1.4 million European citizens demanding an end to the practice. “It is a scandalous show of disdain for civic engagement at a time when people are already losing trust in the EU,” the NGO says.

Over 600 stakeholders, including conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall and philosopher Peter Singer, have signed an open letter addressed to von der Leyen urging the EC to take action against current “inadequate and outdated legislation.”

Eurogroup for Animals CEO Reineke Hameleers tells Food Ingredients First: “The proposal for the revised animal welfare legislation can no longer be delayed. We expect the EC to reveal a proposal that protects animals in line with public health and environmental goals, and to do so within the current political term.”

“We are still hopeful that the revision will be delivered this year.”Many farmed animals spend most – if not all – their lives in cages. But European citizens’ calls to end the practice have so far gone unanswered at the European Commission. 

Business sense
The Brussels-based animal protection group illustrates that beyond providing more ethical standards for animals, the revision is crucial to making the European food system “fair, healthy and more sustainable” for businesses and citizens.

The group argues that adequately updated legislation would create a more level playing field for farmers that have transitioned to systems with improved animal welfare standards and enable them to benefit from fair competition when placing products on the market.

Meanwhile, businesses worldwide are increasingly threatened by volatile weather events linked to climate change, which is widely associated with meat and dairy consumption. According to a landmark study published in Nature Food, meat accounts for nearly 60% of all GHGs from food production, while food production represents around a third of all human-induced GHGs.

Exacerbating the problem, Eurogroup for Animals highlights that approximately two-thirds of EU agricultural land is used for animal production, while the majority of crops grown on arable land are fed to intensively-reared animals.

“The Kept Animals Regulation has the potential to move away from the worst forms of industrial animal farming and create a cage-free, agroecological future,” explains Hameleers.

“Improved animal welfare – with more space per animal and healthier animals that can perform more of their species-specific behaviors – would mean fewer animals and emissions and less food-feed competition, essential for a climate-friendly food system.”Scientific studies are revealing that fish are more social and sentient creatures than presumed. Animal rights groups want species-specific standards for fish to be included in the revised rules.

Attention on animals
Animal protection groups have centered their campaigns around several core issues, including the transition to cage-free systems. Some 1.4 million EU citizens have demanded that the EU take action against cage systems through the End the Cage Age European Citizens’ Initiative, which continues to monitor the legislative process to ensure the EC delivers on its commitments.

Other priorities for animal protection groups include a ban on the transport of live animals outside of EU borders and stricter requirements for transport within the EU, including maximum journey times, as well as the prohibition of unnecessarily cruel killing methods, such as the use of CO2 on pigs and waterbath stunning on poultry.

For chickens specifically, animal protection groups demand the inclusion of higher standards for broiler chickens in line with the European Chicken Commitment and a ban on day-old male chick culling.

Meanwhile, Hameleers tells us there is a need for higher and species-specific standards for fish.

“Fish have been neglected and misunderstood for far too long, and aquaculture systems in the EU are based on poor understanding of these species,” she says.

In the Canary Islands, Spain, animal activists remain locked in a dispute with seafood producer Nueva Pescanova, which plans to construct the world’s first industrial octopus farm subject to EU approval.Farmers that already prioritize sustainable farming methods require regulatory support to compete with profit-driven industrial farming operations.

Global impact potential
Sufficiently revised EU legislation could pave the wave for improved animal welfare standards globally, but the level of impact depends on whether import requirements are included and imposed on all products placed on the EU market, regardless of origin.

“If that’s the case, the EU would match citizens’ expectations to stop importing cruelty,” says Hameleers.

“Indeed, EU rules are generally better than most other regions – apart from New Zealand – although for both, there are a lot of issues with enforcement. The EU imports animal-based products from a few developed or middle-income countries that have animal welfare practices that are banned or would be banned in the EU.”

“More stringent import requirements will lead companies exporting to the EU to ensure they respect these new standards, and this can have a trickle-down effect on the standards they implement for products destined for the local market.”

By Joshua Poole