During today’s European Parliament plenary session, the oral question was discussed, submitted by Danish MEP Niels Fuglsang (S&D), asking the Commission to indicate by when it intends to present proposals to advance animal welfare legislation, as it had promised to do before the end of its mandate.
As many as 41 Members of the European Parliament took the floor, 30 of whom urged the European Commission to present a concrete timeline, responding to the calls of millions of EU citizens who expressed their views through the “End the Cage Age” and “Fur Free Europe” petitions. Some pointed out that while the European Commission continues to delay its work, millions of animals continue to suffer in appalling conditions at every stage of their lives, from farming to transport and slaughter.
The MEPs who spoke criticised the European Commission for having done “very little” for animal welfare during this legislative term and raised a question of democratic legitimacy of the European Institutions themselves, for having failed to respond to the more than 3 million citizens who expressed their views through these two petitions.
The Commission had in fact committed to publishing four proposals on animal welfare by the end of 2023, but backtracked by publishing only one unambitious transport regulation and failing to put forward the promised legislation on farmed animals, slaughter and labelling. The proposals were also supposed to include the phasing out of cages by 2027, in response to the End the Cage Age ECI, supported by over 1.4 million citizens.
In responding to the question, Elisa Ferreira, Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, stated that work on these legislative files is “still ongoing” and that the Commission “is analysing the best course of action”, without however making any commitment on a timeline. What is certain is that the mandate of this Commission expires in June with the upcoming European elections, and the animal welfare proposals are not included in the work plan, meaning they will not be presented during this legislative term.
Ahead of the European elections, together with dozens of other European associations we have launched the Vote for Animals campaign, which encourages candidates for the European Parliament to commit to supporting animals, while informing citizens about the importance of these elections for the advancement of animal welfare legislation.