February 21, 2022

EU animal welfare legislation not fully implemented, according to European Parliament resolution

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) led by rapporteur Jérémy Decerle expressed that the current EU legislation on the welfare of food-producing animals is not fully implemented in all EU member states.

This sentiment was made known in the resolution on the implementation report on the EU on-farm animal welfare legislation.

The parliament calls for clearer rules, support of farmers that apply them in practice and reciprocity for imported products.

According to the resolution, the legislation must be uniformly and fully transposed in EU member states, rather than tightened or further extended. The revision of the animal welfare rules should be based on scientific data, impact assessments and a species by species approach, the text said.

Additionally, the parliament warned that practices intended to improve animal well-being can incur higher production costs and increase farmers' workload. Therefore, farmers must be provided with sufficient time, support, training and financing, said the MEPs.

The update of animal welfare rules should take into account EU farmers' competitiveness in the global agricultural market, according to the MEPs. For this reason, they call on the European Commission to negotiate reciprocity clauses at a multilateral level and in bilateral agreements regarding compliance with animal welfare standards for imported products.

Livestock or meat imports entering Europe that does not comply with European animal welfare standards should be prohibited, according to the parliament.

As current voluntary and mostly private EU animal welfare labeling systems vary considerably, MEPs advocate for a mandatory EU framework for voluntary labeling, which would provide a practical framework but leave room for private initiatives.

The European Commission has announced that it would revise the EU animal welfare legislative framework and present a proposal on animal welfare labeling by the end of 2023.

- European Parliament