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During the last Council of Ministers of Agriculture, the Danish delegation, on behalf of the Belgian, Danish, German, Netherlands and Swedish delegations, provided information to ministers regarding the future revision of EU legislation on animal welfare.
In particular, they highlighted the need to take scientific information into account when updating the existing EU legislation. They also discussed the challenges of enforcing the existing provisions and the lack of specific, EU-level animal welfare requirements for all species that are kept or traded for economic purposes, including house pets. On the whole, member states acknowledged the need to update animal welfare legislation. A number of delegations stressed the need for a gradual transition to new rules and the importance of maintaining competitiveness, particularly vis-à-vis imports from non-EU countries with different welfare standards.
The Commission welcomed the member states’ contributions, and responded that the farm to fork strategy provides for the evaluation and revision of the existing animal welfare legislation by the end of 2023, and that many of the issues raised would be addressed as part of this revision process.
October 14, 2021/ Consilium/ European Union.
https://www.consilium.europa.eu
