{"id":345296,"date":"2024-03-14T12:53:01","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T11:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2024\/03\/14\/norme-benessere-animale-commissione-ue\/"},"modified":"2024-03-19T18:48:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T17:48:00","slug":"european-commission-with-its-back-to-the-wall-on-the-review-of-eu-animal-welfare-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/2024\/03\/14\/european-commission-with-its-back-to-the-wall-on-the-review-of-eu-animal-welfare-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"European Commission with its back to the wall on the review of EU animal welfare rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the correspondent\u00a0in Strasbourg<\/em> – The revision of EU animal welfare legislation has been waiting four years for a proposal from the European Commission, and it is already behind schedule compared to the end-of-2023 deadline that the von der Leyen cabinet\u00a0had set for itself. That is why, when the legislature is now on its last legs, MEPs are issuing a final warning to the EU executive to keep its promises: “While we wait, animals suffer. We\u00a0are talking about 300 million animals living most of their lives in small cages<\/strong>. We cannot look at ourselves in the mirror serenely thinking about how we produce meat,” the author of the EU Parliament’s oral question on the revision of EU animal welfare legislation, Niels Fuglsang <\/strong>(S&D), said in his speech in the plenary session this morning (March 14).<\/p>\n

\"Elisa<\/a>
European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira (March 14,\u00a02024)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Following the light package on transportation, furs, and custody conditions<\/a>\u00a0last December,\u00a0the heart\u00a0of the issue is\u00a0using\u00a0cages on farms<\/strong>. “In 2021, we announced that we will consider rules for a possible ban on cages in animal farming,” said Commissioner for Cohesion and Reform Elisa Ferreira, <\/strong>speaking at the Plenary in response to the End the Cage Age<\/a> initiative signed by nearly 1.4 million citizens of the 27 member countries. “We have started a full assessment on the economic and social impacts, but it is still in progress<\/strong>,” the commissioner explained, stressing that “we are assessing important aspects for the transition to cage-free farming to be sustainable for the agri-food sector and for the proposal to be sound.”<\/p>\n

But MEPs are less and less willing to accept further delays, as the author of the question made clear: “We understand that the proposal is there. It must be put on the table now.<\/strong>\u00a0If it does not arrive, we will ask for a roadmap.” Words shared by the Democratic Party’s head of delegation to the EU Parliament, Brando Benifei<\/strong>: “We are asking for a clear plan, with precise timeframes,” with a proposal for “an animal welfare commissioner after the next European elections<\/strong>” in June. “We are in favor of an end to the use of cages for breeding, but only when this also applies to animals imported from non-EU countries<\/strong>,”\u00a0MEP Herbert Dorfmann<\/strong> (S\u00fcdtiroler Volkspartei) from the ranks of the European People’s Party underlined.<\/p>\n

\"Allevamenti<\/a>
(credits: Sebastien Salom-Gomis \/ Afp)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The Commission has inescapable commitments in updating the regulatory framework on the subject<\/strong>,” \u00a0MEP Laura Ferrara<\/strong> (5 Star Movement) said. “It must provide support and financing tools for European companies that respect animal welfare, protecting them from imports that can lead to unfair competition.” Her words were echoed by her party colleague Maria Angela Danz\u00ec, who said<\/strong>: “Behind the great promises of legislation to defend animal welfare, we have given birth to a mouse. This betrays everyone’s expectations.” But Commissioner Ferreira recalls that “work is still ongoing” on other dossiers, such as “European rules to harmonize slaughtering and European labeling<\/strong>.” After the farmers’ protests<\/a> of the last few months, “the right place for this discussion is the dialogue on the future of the CAP<\/strong>,” since the sector “is not satisfied with the application of animal welfare rules because requirements are constantly changing, this is the opportunity to provide stability and clarity,”\u00a0according to the EU Commission.<\/p>\n

However, it is clear that “reforming this sector has costs. We have to take them into account<\/strong>,” Commissioner Ferreira said,\u00a0\u00a0justifying the delays in the impact assessment. “Reducing the fragmentation of the Internal Market can encourage farm investments<\/strong>, which will go hand in hand with animal welfare,” she said. While agreeing with the need for “strict controls in livestock farms and international trade, to avert abuse and mistreatment,”\u00a0 MEP Rosanna Conte<\/strong>\u00a0of the League denounced “the risk of falling into the error of demonizing an entire sector for the non-compliance of a few, without forgetting that the vast majority works with dedication,” referring to the European right’s seasoned\u00a0rhetoric on “ideological measures that risk bringing entire farms<\/strong> to their knees without bringing real benefits for animal welfare.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MEPs urge the EU executive to present “a clear plan with clear timeframes” for the proposal promised as early as 2020, particularly on stopping the use of cages on farms. PD delegation leader Brando Benifei also calls for “an ad hoc commissioner after the next European elections.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5647,"featured_media":265601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"0","show_view_counter":"0","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25681],"tags":[25875,25870,27277,27275,27278,27276,25871,25755],"class_list":["post-345296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-transport-animals-en","tag-benessere-animale-en","tag-label-welfare-animal-en","tag-farms-without-cages-en","tag-cages-breeding-en","tag-end-the-cage-age-en","tag-news-commissione-europea-en","tag-news-parliament-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5647"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345296"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":345793,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345296\/revisions\/345793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}