29 May 2024

Billions of broiler chickens across the EU are bred to be fast-growing, which puts their bodies under enormous strain. In our new white paper, we call on policy-makers to phase out these breeds and, instead, prioritise slower-growing breeds in EU legislation. Several Member States are already showing support for this kind of shift.

It is impossible for fast-growing broiler chickens to live a good life, in which they are comfortable, healthy, and exposed to a variety of positive experiences. To improve the welfare of the birds in this sector, it is critical that EU policy-makers legislate on a significant, EU-wide transition: in which fast-growing broiler chickens are phased out, and only slower-growing, higher welfare breeds are permitted to be farmed. 

In our new white paper, Paving the way for higher welfare broiler breeds in the EU: From market initiatives to legislation, we lay out three legislative routes policy-makers could take to foster such a change. We also lay out the European Chicken Commitment as the basis for this legislation, and explore what individual Member States have been doing to improve broiler welfare, both nationally and in supporting the phase-out of fast-growing breeds at EU level. 

The Netherlands

The Netherlands has already made a lot of notable progress towards producing only higher welfare breeds. The “Chicken of Tomorrow” was introduced between 2014 – 2015, an initiative that ensured slower-growing broilers were prioritised in its food systems. Now, the market for fresh chicken meat in the Netherlands consists of 100% higher welfare, slower-growing broilers. 

This sector shake-up was largely catalysed by interest from Dutch consumers in animal welfare, as well as related issues such as public health and sustainability. Various studies showed Dutch consumers are willing to pay more for improved animal welfare standards, incentivising retailers to rethink their production practices. 

Further pressure was added by NGOs that shone a light on the awful experiences of fast-growing broilers, for instance the Plofkip campaign by our member Wakker Dier. This caused a public outcry, which persuaded the two biggest retailers in the Netherlands, Jumbo and Albert Heijn, to launch their own higher welfare standards for broilers. They were soon followed by all the other supermarket chains.

Denmark

The Danish government and key Danish political parties have agreed to phase out the state procurement of fast-growing chickens, as well as promised to back a ban on the farming of fast-growing broilers at EU level. 

Sweden

New criteria developed by the Swedish National Agency for Public Procurement include standards for higher welfare chicken breeds, in line with European Chicken Commitment. There are also two propositions in the Swedish Parliament to ban fast-growing breeds nationwide (proposition number 18 and proposition number 29).

Norway

The Animal Ethics Council has recommended fast-growing breeds are banned in Norway. As of May 2024, the Norwegian government has been working on recommendations to give to Parliament, and the Norwegian animal protection law will likely be revised in the near future.

The organic movement and labelling schemes across Europe are also having an impact on broiler chicken welfare

Alongside these progressive steps by governments and retailers across Member States, several labelling schemes and initiatives are also playing a role in changing the fates of Europe’s broilers. 

Chiefly, the European Chicken Commitment, also known as the Better Chicken Commitment, is incentivising corporations to commit to higher welfare standards for broiler chickens. Hundreds of companies have signed up to these commitments, demonstrating that higher welfare standards and market competitiveness are compatible. Further, as a science-based welfare policy, approved and supported by animal welfare organisations all over the world, the standards laid out in the commitment make an excellent foundation for future legislation on broilers at EU level.  

Organic legislators and organisations have also been showing support for slower-growing broilers across Europe. Organic bodies in Finland, Poland, Spain, and Austria  have all recommended specific broiler breeds that can be used in organic farming, pointing to the clear connection between slower growth and higher welfare.

Specific labels at national level have contributed to this growing emphasis on slower-growing broilers, too. In Germany, Deutscher Tierschutzbund has laid out a mandatory requirement within both the basic and premium levels of its animal welfare certification label Für Mehr Tierschutz, for extensive to medium-extensive breeding lines with slower growth.

Similarly Krav, an organic labelling scheme in Sweden, has set a growth rate limit for slower-growing breeds with an ambition to make this limit even stricter by 2032.

Shaping a new future for broiler chickens in the EU

As the EU gears up to revise the full animal welfare legislation, several Member States are already setting an example for the kind of major changes needed to truly put welfare at the heart of the broiler chicken sector. The wellbeing of the birds in this industry will be defined largely by the action policy-makers now take to legislate on slower-growing breeds. Without such policies in place, these sentient beings will only continue to suffer.