Document type: Written answer from the European Commission
Authors: Question: Annika Bruna, Virginie Joron, Catherine Griset, Julie Lechanteux, Aurelia Beigneux. Answer: Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Parliament
Question: The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the legitimate re-establishment of border controls between certain Member States.
NGOs have reported that live animals are being subjected to extremely long waiting times of up to 18 hours at such border crossings, resulting in severe suffering.
Article 22 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 of 22 December 2004 on the protection of animals during transport provides that:
"The competent authority shall take the necessary measures to prevent or reduce to a minimum any delay during transport or suffering by animals when unforeseeable circumstances impede the application of this Regulation [...]"
"The competent authority shall ensure that special arrangements are made at the place of transfers, exit points and border inspection posts to give priority to the transport of animals."
Without prejudice to the right of states, in the exercise of their sovereignty, to re-establish border controls or to their ability to carry out the necessary health checks, transports of live animals should have priority over transports of goods where borders have been re‑established.
Could the Commission therefore answer the following questions:
- Why has Article 22 not been applied?
- What does the Commission intend to do to ensure that, when national border controls are re-established in the future, animal transports are given priority by the Member States?
Answer: Member States are primarily responsible for the implementation of the EU legislation on the protection of animals during transport, including all measures to prevent or reduce to a minimum any delay during animal transport in accordance with Article 22 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005.
The Commission has been informed that, at the beginning of the COVID crisis, health measures taken at borders between certain Member States have slowed down the general traffic.
However, the Commission has quickly adopted guidelines for border management measures to protect health and ensure the availability of goods and essential services. In this context, ‘green lanes’ have been established, to speed up the movement of all freight vehicles, including transport of livestock.
As a result, the few critical situations have been quickly resolved.
The Commission, working closely with Member States and their national contact points, will continue to monitor compliance with the regulation on animal transport in all circumstances. The issue of transport of animals will also be examined within the framework of the recently adopted Farm to Fork Strategy. In addition, the designation of a third reference centre on the welfare of ruminants and equines will also contribute to improve official controls related to animal transport.
