Document type: Answer from the European Commission to Question E-003407/2023
Authors: question: Nikolaj Villumsen (The Left). Answer: Mrs Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission
Question: The Commission has worked towards a revision of EU animal welfare legislation since the 2020 adoption of the farm to fork strategy. The 2021 European Citizens’ Initiative, End the Cage Age, prompted the Commission to promise a proposal aimed at phasing out cages in farming. This was to be delivered before the end of 2023.
Yet no proposal has been published or planned on the revision of animal welfare legislation, except on the transport of live animals. Citizens deserve to know how many resources are wasted if the revision of the animal welfare legislation is abandoned.
1. As part of the initial fitness check of the EU’s existing animal welfare legislation, a public consultation was held between October 2021 and January 2022. This garnered responses from a record 59 281 respondents. How many working hours were spent preparing for, codifying, and analysing the results of this public consultation?
2. How many working hours has the Commission allocated to the drafting of the proposals, which were approved by the Regulatory Scrutiny Board in July?
3. How many working hours has the European Food Safety Authority allocated to producing animal welfare scientific opinions in the framework of the farm to fork strategy?
Answer: It is not possible to establish the exact number of hours spent so far on the ongoing preparatory work for the revision of the EU animal welfare legislation, which includes the work on the 11 scientific opinions published by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the analysis of the public consultation, the work on the impact assessment and accompanying studies, including discussions with the Commission’s Regulatory Scrutiny Board, the work of consultation of stakeholders, the drafting of the legislative proposals. It is clearly a complex ongoing process, with many Commission services involved, in addition to EFSA. So far, the result has been the adoption on 7 December 2023 of a legislative proposal on animal transport[1] and a legislative proposal, for the first time, on the welfare of dogs and cats and their traceability [2]. However, the work on the other parts of the animal welfare legislation reform, including as regards the intention to phase out cages, is continuing. Hence, the Commission’s preparatory work has not at all been performed in vain or is wasted. In addition, the EFSA opinions are useful not only for the preparatory work on the legislative revision, but also to support Member States’ implementation of current animal welfare rules based on the latest scientific evidence.
[1] Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of animals during transport and related operations, amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/97 and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, COM/2023/770 final.
[2] Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the welfare of dogs and cats and their traceability, COM/2023/769 final.
