Document type: Press release from 13 French animal protection associations, released by the OABA
Authors: Yvan Savy, Christophe Marie, Louis Schweitzer, Elodie Gérôme, Ghislain Zuccolo, Brigitte Gothière, Charles-Jacques Fombonne, Reha Hutin, Melvin Josse, Ruud Tombrock, Manuel Mersch, Muriel Arnal, Claire Starozinski
Preview: On Tuesday, October 3, 2023, the European Parliament held a lengthy session with Slovakia's Maroš Šefčovič, as part of his new role as Vice-President in charge of the European Green Deal. During these discussions, the Vice-President presented his priorities for the coming months, with a view to finalizing the work begun by his predecessor, the Dutchman Frans Timmermans, on the European Green Deal.
Continued doubt
However, Maroš Šefčovič extended existing doubts over the Commission's intentions on two major initiatives in the European Green Deal, which is essential to achieving the climate targets the European Union has set itself for 2040: the proposal to establish a "Legislative Framework for Sustainable Food Systems" and the revision of European legislation on animal welfare, due to be published in autumn 2023. To prevent the hollowing out of the European Green Deal, our animal protection organizations are calling on Europe's leaders to maintain the integrity and consistency of their approach: the EU's climate goals cannot be achieved without a complete overhaul of our food systems, from farm to fork. This means that we must not only profoundly transform our production methods, moving away from the intensive farming that is harmful to animals, the environment and farmers, but also change the shape of our eating habits.
A major refusal of democracy
At a time when the confidence of European citizens in EU institutions is at an all-time low (Eurobarometer 2022-2023, puts the confidence of the French population in the European Union at only 33%), and where decisions taken in Brussels appear to be far removed from the day-to-day concerns of our citizens, we call on the European Commission to stand by its promises and publish, as announced in 2020, the full-scale revision of European legislation on animal welfare, addressing farming conditions, transport and slaughter, in order to update obsolete regulations that are no longer in line with current scientific data and fail to offer effective protection for the millions of animals farmed on European soil. The people of France and Europe have repeatedly told us that it is time to change the way animals are treated in Europe, and in particular to move away from cage farming as soon as possible. We can cite the European Citizens' Initiative "End the Cage Age", which garnered nearly 1.4 million signatures in 27 member states in just a few months in 2020. The European Commission has promised to legislate in response to this ongoing public concern, notably by revising the regulations concerning animal welfare on farms. To fail to publish the revision of European legislation, or to confine publication to a revision of European legislation on the transport of live animals, would be a major refusal of democracy, which cannot be tolerated.
Consultation or charade?
We have noted the European Commission's intention to launch a strategic consultation on the future of agriculture in Europe. However, we believe that civil society, farmers and representatives of the various agrifood sectors have expressed their views extensively during the legislative process, notably through the consultation conducted by the Commission between October 2021 and January 2022, during which time 60,000 Europeans voted in favor of the revision of European regulations. In France, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty also consulted the industry and animal protection organizations during the summer of 2023 as part of the process of drawing up his position on the revision of European legislation at animal welfare. A consensus was reached among the various parties on the inclusion of 'mirror' clauses in the European legislation, to ensure that non-European animal products meet equivalent animal welfare standards. We therefore question the added value of a fresh consultation and we fear that it is no more than a charade designed to camouflage the Commission's iother small companion animalstion. We expect the Commission to live up to its responsibilities and respond to citizens' aspirations for a significant improvement in the European legislation on animal welfare, by publishing the proposed revisions before the end of October.
Reforms are urgently needed to make our livestock farming more resilient to climate, environmental and economic emergencies, to protect against public health risks, and to meet our ethical responsibilities.
