Document type Article published on the CIWF France website
Author: CIWF
Preview: Today, the Citizens' Committee of the highly successful End the Cage Age European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) launched an End the Cage legal action against the European Commission over its failure to deliver its commitment to ban cage farming.
Papers have been filed at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), in which the ECI citizens' committee demonstratein Luxemburg outlining the End the Cage Age legal action demonstrating that the Commission has failed to act on its promise to introduce legislation to ban cages in response to a successful ECI - the first to secure a proper commitment. For the committee, reneging on this historic promise to ban cages goes against the very purpose of this new "democratic" tool.
In 2021, following the successful ECI signed by 1.4 million people and supported by a coalition of 170 NGOs coordinated by Compassion in World Farming, the Commission made a clear commitment to introduce legislative proposals to ban cage farming in the EU by the end of 2023. This "End the Cage Age" legal action, supported by Compassion in World Farming, is the first to hold the Commission to account over its failure to act on an ECI. If successful, the Commission would be compelled by the Court to publish its proposals within a clear and reasonable timescale, and to grant access to its file on the End the Cage Age ECI. (...)
Across the EU, more than 300 million pigs, hens, calves, rabbits, ducks, quail and geese are suffering in cages. Sows are forced to nurse their piglets in crates so small they can't even turn around, rabbits and quail endure their entire lives in barren cages, and ducks and geese are caged for force-feeding to produce foie gras. (...)
In the autumn of last year, the Commission was scheduled to publish its legislative proposals for a ban on cage farming, when President Ursula von der Leyen apparently bowed to pressure from the farming lobby to put the ban on hold. Her State of the European Union address even echoed the terms of a letter sent to her at the time by the agricultural federation Copa Cogeca. This decision was taken despite the preparations, assessments and consultations already carried out by Commission officials, and proposals for substantial financial support to help farmers during the transition away from cages. Public subsidies must be re-allocated for the support of farmers who adopt sustainable farming systems. CIWF is calling on its supporters to tag European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) in sharing social media posts to support the legal action.
