FRCAW | In order to promote animal welfare in the context of ritual slaughter, Member States may, without disregarding the fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter, impose a reversible stunning process that is not likely to cause the death of the animal.

Document type : Press release from the Court of Justice of the European Union

Preview: A decree of the Flemish Region (Belgium) of 7 July 2017 (‘the decree’), amending the Law on the protection and welfare of animals, regarding permitted methods of slaughtering animals, prohibits animals from being slaughtered without prior stunning, including in the case of slaughter prescribed by a religious rite. In the context of ritual slaughter, the decree provides for the use of reversible stunning which cannot result in the animal’s death. The decree was challenged, inter alia, by several Jewish and Muslim associations , seeking its annulment in whole or in part [...] It is in that context that the Grondwettelijk Hof (Constitutional Court, Belgium) decided to make a reference to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling in order to ascertain, principally, whether EU law precludes legislation of a Member State which requires, in the context of ritual slaughter, a reversible stunning procedure which cannot result in the animal’s death. This question leads the Court, for the third time, to seek a balance between freedom of religion, guaranteed by Article 10 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (hereinafter 'the Charter'), and animal welfare, as set out in Article 13 TFEU and given specific expression in Regulation No 1099/2009.

Findings of the Court: The Court, sitting as the Grand Chamber, observes, first of all, that the principle that an animal
should be stunned prior to being killed, laid down by Regulation No 1099/2009, meets the
main objective of the protection of animal welfare pursued by that regulation. [...] In addition, Member States may adopt national rules aimed at ensuring more extensive protection of animals at the time of killing than those contained in Regulation^No 1099/2009 in relation to ritual slaughter [...] It follows that Regulation No 1099/2009 does not preclude Member States from imposing an obligation to stun animals prior to killing which also applies in the case of slaughter prescribed by religious rites, provided, however, that, in so doing, the Member States respect the fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter [...] In its examination of the proportionality of the limitation, the Court concludes that the measures contained in the decree allow a fair balance to be struck between the importance attached to animal welfare and the freedom of Jewish and Muslim believers to manifest their religion.

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