Document type Response from the European Commission to question E-002691/2023
Authors: question: Annika Bruna (ID), Gilles Lebreton (ID), Ivan Vilibor Sinčić (NI), Eric Minardi (ID), France Jamet (ID), Marie Dauchy (ID), Catherine Griset (ID), Dan-Ştefan Motreanu (PPE), André Rougé (ID), Elżbieta Kruk (ECR), Dominique Bilde (ID). Reply: Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission
Question: The Commission will soon be bringing forward a review of the legislation on animal welfare. This legislation covers livestock from rearing to slaughter, including transport.
As things stand, Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing establishes the stunning of animals prior to slaughter as a principle, but it does allow slaughter without stunning in the case of religious slaughter. The Court of Justice of the European Union – in its judgment of 17 December 2020 in Case C‑336/19 – recognised a Member State’s right to require, in the context of ritual slaughter, ‘reversible, non-lethal stunning’. In other words, Member States may prohibit slaughter without stunning. Unfortunately, however, not all the Member States are choosing to do this.
1. The European Food Safety Authority has established that slaughter without stunning causes significant suffering in animals, especially cattle, as it takes a long time for them to lose consciousness. Is the Commission ready to ban slaughter without stunning throughout the EU?
2. Will the Commission extend this ban to imports of products containing meat from animals slaughtered in third countries?
Answer: Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing provides for a derogation from the requirement for prior stunning for religious slaughter which must be interpreted strictly and is subject to the condition, in particular that it must take place in a slaughterhouse. As Recital 18 of that regulation explains, the regulation maintained a derogation that already existed in the previous legislation but considering that national rules on this subject take into account dimensions that go beyond the purpose of that regulation, gave Member States a certain margin of flexibility. Under Article 26(2) (c ) of the regulation, Member States may adopt rules aimed at ensuring a more extensive protection of animals at the time of killing. If they choose to do so, Member States must reconcile the interests at stake in compliance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
