The initiative, coordinated by the French organisation L214 and supported by several European animal protection organisations, took advantage of the MEPs’ presence at the plenary session to deliver a clear message to the European institutions: the review of animal welfare legislation that the European Commission has committed to presenting by the end of the year must require that animal products imported into the EU comply with the same welfare standards imposed on European producers.
The problem: same market, different rules
Today the European Union has one of the most advanced regulatory frameworks in the world for the welfare of farmed animals, with regulations and directives covering every stage of production, from rearing to transport through to slaughter. However, these standards do not apply to products imported from third countries, most of which lack binding rules comparable to the European ones. The result is a twofold injustice: on the one hand, unfair competition for European producers, who are forced to bear higher costs to comply with the legislation; on the other, the possibility that products obtained through practices banned within the Union may reach the European market.
Mirror measures are a concrete and legally grounded instrument to close this gap, which consists in making access to the EU market conditional on compliance with standards at least equivalent to the European ones. It is an instrument that the EU already applies in part (for example to meat products derived from slaughter and to the welfare of pigs and calves) and that is fully compatible with the rules of the World Trade Organization.
Animal Law Italia’s commitment
Our representative travelled to Strasbourg with a clear objective: to speak directly with Italian Members of the European Parliament, bringing the campaign’s arguments to the attention of our country’s representatives. The advocacy work produced significant results, finding broad cross-party interest in the issue.
In particular, we held talks with the Five Star Movement MEPs Mario Furore, Pasquale Tridico, Valentina Palmisano, Carolina Morace and Dario Tamburrano; with Cristina Guarda of the Greens group; and with the Democratic Party representatives Georgia Tramacere, Brando Benifei, Stefano Bonaccini, Giuseppe Topo and Lucia Annunziata. Contacts were also initiated with other MEPs who expressed interest in the issue.
We presented each of them with the campaign’s position paper, which sets out in detail the legal, economic and political foundations of mirror measures and puts forward two concrete demands: to explicitly codify these measures in the directives and regulations governing the treatment of animals on farms and during transport, and to strengthen control and traceability rules by requiring non-EU producers to provide proof of compliance with European standards.
“Those who defend animal rights always find themselves fighting against a limit that seems insurmountable: the protection of the interests of the production sectors. Mirror measures do not seek to place additional burdens on European producers — on the contrary, they safeguard the stronger protections provided by the continent’s legislation compared with other parts of the world. This is a virtuous model that could be extended to other areas, such as respect for workers’ rights and environmental standards” — so commented Cesare De Virgilio Suglia, the Animal Law Italia delegate present in Strasbourg.
A strong signal for the future
The day in Strasbourg was a great success, both for the participation of the European organisations and for the quality of the dialogue opened with the Italian MEPs. The call for mirror measures is backed by a very large majority of European citizens: no fewer than 96% of participants in a recent European Commission consultation came out in favour. This policy indeed represents a point of convergence between animal protection, fair trade and food sovereignty.
Animal Law Italia will continue working in parallel to ensure that European animal welfare legislation is modernised in line with the latest scientific knowledge, while at the same time pressing for the introduction of mirror measures, so that there is no room for importing animal suffering into Europe.