Day: October 23, 2023

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport, Stray Animals

EU: The rules of the game: will the views of EU citizens make the Commission finally deliver the new animal welfare legislation?

23 October 2023

WAV Comment – In addition to making things a lot better, lets have EU wide legislation that gives stray (homeless) dogs and cats much more rights – they are homeless; not wild !

  • I could show you dozens more photos I have on file re EU strays, but I dont want photos, I want legislation.
  • Pack EU Commissioners in a livestock transporter for 2 days, urinating over each other – then see how quickly EU animal transport rules will change !

Opinion

Written by Reineke Hameleers

The past few weeks have been among the hardest in my position as the CEO of Eurogroup for Animals but also, in some respects, the most surreal. In the ten years I have proudly spent leading this organisation, I experienced many political hurdles. Together with my team and our member organisations, we went through long years of lobbying and campaigning that were met with political inaction on the part of the European Commission.

After hitting the rubber wall so many times, we were thrilled by the prospect of new and updated animal welfare legislation, which the European Commission promised to deliver in line with the aims of the EU Green Deal and in the wake of our incredibly successful citizens’ mobilisations. It was refreshing for us to finally collect all the science, prepare our concrete asks, and talk about change for billions of kept animals. 

This week it became clear that, at least for this political term, the European Commission does not intend to deliver all of the promised and much-needed reforms of animal welfare legislation. There are reasons why this is happening and I won’t analyse them in detail here. All I can say is that none of them holds water in a healthy democracy because this backtracking represents a betrayal of the trust millions of European citizens had put in the European Commission to take action for farmed animals. 

Today, the disconnect between civil society and European politics has become even more evident. For one, the plenary debate at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the European Citizens’ Initiative “Fur Free Europe” demonstrated that there is incredible cross-party parliamentary support for a ban on fur farming. Secondly, the results of the latest special Eurobarometer on animal welfare, only just published, show once again and without a shadow of a doubt that European citizens deeply care for farmed (and domestic) animals and want their policymakers to act.  We know, however, that the pressure from the industrial agriculture lobby is immense and that the stakes are high due to the impending European elections in 2024. 

We had anticipated that any attempt at passing legislation to reform animal farming would encounter fierce opposition from our opponents. I do not think we were wearing rosy glasses. After engaging for years with all stakeholders in countless meetings and occasions, and with all the scientific and field evidence on our side, we thought there were solid bases on which to build a revised farmed animal welfare legislation. 

But then the pandemic hit, then war, causing international instability and an ongoing economic crisis. The promises of a greener, more sustainable food and farming system and good lives for animals became controversial in light of the events. As elections approach, one must be “realistic”. What was promised to millions does not count anymore when there’s a re-election on the line. These are the rules of the game. 

Now that European citizens have spoken again, loud and clear, directly and through their elected representatives, what will the European Commission do? I believe the European Commission still can (and should) do the decent thing and put forward all the planned legislative proposals on animal welfare. When it does, we will be there to ensure that the new laws really make a difference in the lives of billions of non-human animals. 

Regards Mark

Younger days planning something ! – probably involving live animal exports.

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News

EU: European Parliament supports plant-based food production but misses crucial need to reduce animal numbers.

WAV Comment – When you are behind rose tinted spectacles, and think that you are faultless in every way, it must be very easy to miss seeing the need to reduce animal numbers in food production !! – how very ‘Euro politics’; missing the ‘bleeding obvious’ ! – Mark

20 October 2023

In the vote on its own-initiative report on the European Protein Strategy, MEPs recognised the need to increase plant-based production for human consumption, but failed to address the crucial need to reduce animal numbers, particularly in intensive farming.

Eurogroup for Animals regrets that the Parliament rejected the amendment tabled by a large number of MEPs from different political groups, calling on the Parliament to recognise the need to reduce the production and consumption of animal-sourced protein from intensive farming in the report on the European Protein Strategy.

Around two-thirds of EU agricultural land is used for animal production, and a large proportion goes to producing feed for animals in intensive farming. Moreover, European animal farms have intensified in the last decade. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sparked a discussion about EU food security, with the European Commission reviewing its report on the development of plant proteins to improve EU food security, reducing dependence on feed imports and reducing environmental and climate impacts. The biggest threat to long-term food security in Europe is the overconsumption of animal protein, which exceeds national dietary guidelines, planetary boundaries and negatively impacts animal welfare. The science is clear that in order to ensure long-term food security, we need to grow more food for people and less feed for animals on arable land.

We welcome the Parliament’s consideration of animal welfare when it comes to insect farming for food and feed, but are concerned that insect farming is mainly a feed industry with questionable sustainability credentials and that risks sustaining intensive animal farming. We are also concerned about the positive view on methane reducing feed-additives, which are understudied and risk leading to poor animal welfare.

Eurogroup for Animals encourages the European Commission to focus on plant-based protein production for food, not feed, when reviewing its report on the development of plant proteins and to recognise the need to reduce animal numbers in intensive farming. This would support real long-term food security and strengthen Europe’s ability to produce enough food for everyone.

Regards Mark