Document type : Article published on the Euractiv website
Author: Gerardo Fortuna
Preview: Three members of the European Commission have reacted positively to a public petition requesting the phase-out of cage rearing in the EU, expressing support to the initiative.
On Thursday (15 April), promoters of the European Citizens Initiative (ECI) "End the Cage Age" presented the campaign before European lawmakers at a joint public hearing of the European Parliament's petition (PETI) and agriculture (AGRI) committees.
Citizen initiatives allow petitions that reach the one million signature threshold to be discussed by the European Commission, which can decide to put forward a legislative proposal on the matter.
With 1.4 million signatures from more than 18 Member States, campaigners for "End the Cage Age" met the requirements and are now waiting for the Commission's response.
During the public hearing, agriculture commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski appeared to be the most enthusiastic, promising campaigners "to work intensively" to put the initiative into legislation: "The European Commission truly wants to improve animal welfare. And I personally care about this," he added.
In a tweet after the hearing, the Pole confirmed that the Commission will look to adopt in early June a communication that will spell out proposed actions in response to the ECI.
