WAV Comment – as we have said in the past, the EU is very good at making itself try to look very good; publishing endless reports and evaluations, but on the other hand, failing drastically to move on basic issues such as live animal transport.  What exactly did we see in the first part of this year when hundreds of live animals were shipped around the Mediterranean Sea for over 3 months ?-  Live Transport – World Animals Voice

Changing live transport across the EU, in accordance with the wishes of vast numbers of EU citizens; should be a fundamental strategy of the Union.  Instead, they ok Irish producers to export live animals to Libya, where they are ritually slaughtered, and the EU itself, as the biggest live exporting syndicate in the world, also export endless live animals to 3^rd nations such as Turkey.

And what are we seeing and hearing about all the reports and investigations which are supposed to have been undertaken by member state Romania, with regard the capsize of the ‘Queen Hind’ after leaving Midia ? – Search Results for “romania queen hind” – World Animals Voice – where is the EU when it comes to member states not coming clean with animal welfare incidents ? – Nowhere, that’s where.

Here below is a new PR from the EU which has been sent to us today (7/4/21). We have followed this ‘Strategy’ with the ‘Evaluation of the EU strategy on Animal Welfare’ information; which you can further investigate (via links on the site) should you wish.

EU revealed to be world’s biggest live animal exporter. – World Animals Voice

Regards Mark

Animal welfare: Publication of the Evaluation of EU’s Strategy

The European Commission has published an evaluation of the European Union Strategy for the Protection and Welfare of Animals. The report, which covers the years 2012-18, notably assesses how effective, efficient, and beneficial the strategy has been. It notes that compliance across Member States, which are in charge of implementing the Animal Welfare legislation, remains a challenge, in particular in risk areas such as animal transport, routine tail docking of pigs and stunning. The study also flags the need to improve coherence not only with the CAP, but also with fisheries, trade, environmental and transport policies, in line with the goals of the Farm to Fork strategy. The evaluation also pointed towards the strategic use of consumer information, international cooperation and CAP as relevant tools to improve animal welfare standards both in the EU and on a global level. The findings of the study will now feed into the on-going evaluation of the animal welfare legislation and inform any potential future initiatives in the context of Farm to Fork. The forthcoming review of the animal welfare legislation will therefore look at the legislative gaps identified in 2012 and at any new gaps that could emerge from the ongoing evaluation of the rules in force. Launched almost 50 years ago, the Animal Welfare policy of the EU concerns millions of animals. The EU has a substantial population of livestock including, at present, 88 million bovine animals, 148 million pigs, and around 100 million sheep and goats, as well as an estimated 4.5 billion chickens, egg-laying hens and turkeys.

Evaluation of the EU strategy on Animal Welfare

Following a recommendation from the European Court of Auditors (i.e. Special report No 31/2018 on Animal welfare in the EU), the Commission has started an evaluation of the EU Strategy for Protection and Welfare of Animals (2012-2015).

The outcome of the evaluation is published in the form of a Staff Working Document here:

• Executive SummarySearch for available translations of the preceding linkEN•••
• Staff Working Document

This evaluation assessed the extent to which the strategy delivered on its objectives and whether they are relevant and consistent today. It looked at efficiency and whether the strategy usefully complemented national efforts in this field.

The evaluation found that the strategy contributed to setting common priorities that led to improvements on animal welfare across the EU. It also contributed to improve knowledge and sharing of best practices, as well as to enforcement of EU legislation in specific areas.

However, none of the strategy’s objectives has been fully achieved. The forthcoming evaluation and review of the animal welfare legislation will look at the legislative gaps identified in and after 2012 and will seek to make the animal welfare acquis more fit for purpose. As regards enforcement, special attention will be given to compliance risk areas identified by this evaluation.

This evaluation draws from a study carried out by an external contractor, which applied a mixed-method approach to address the evaluation questions. The methods used included desk research, an online public consultation of 13 weeks, targeted surveys and semi-structured interviews to ensure broader coverage of stakeholders. In addition, eight case studies were carried out to further support the analysis.

The study report is published here:

• Executive summary
• Final Study report
• Annexes 1-8, Annex 9, and Annex 10