Europeans have consistently advocated for better animal welfare, calling for robust legislation, adequate resources, and transparent, accountable policy implementation. The Eurobarometer surveys regularly affirm this strong demand.
This is also why in June 2024, during the electoral campaign to elect the new European Parliament, 70% of European citizens interviewed by Ipsos, considered as representative of the whole EU population, responded that they wanted to have a Commissioner for Animal Welfare in the new EU Commission.
On the other hand, niche private sectorial interests have often prevailed in European law-making, against the will of European citizens, and causing immense suffering to billions of animals.
The way in which animal welfare is managed within the present institutional setting favours the continuation of this problem.
For the last 25 years, since when animals were first recognised as sentient beings in a protocol attached to the Amsterdam Treaty, the competence for animal welfare has been shifted from the Ministry of Agriculture and placed under Health in Austria, Belgium, and Italy. A similar decision was appropriately adopted by the EU.
Nevertheless, in the EU Commission this responsibility has always been blurred, still under an excessive influence of DG AGRI, therefore considering animals as mere agricultural products, and managed in a completely inconsistent way by different Commissioners.
In the 2019-24 term of the Commission, there was probably more concrete work on animal welfare done than in the previous 20 years. Still, in the Commission’s organigramme the mention of this responsibility can only be found in the name of a single unit of DG SANTE, under the Directorate dealing with ‘Crisis Preparedness in Food, Animals and Plants’.
The absurdity of this setting is striking, and this also means that the will of EU citizens is blatantly ignored.
If we look at the previous term of the Commission, not even a single unit was dedicated to animal welfare. This shows how some private niche interests continue to prevail on the will of Europeans citizens.
Interestingly, this also means that the EU Commission lacks the necessary resources and clearly defined roles to promote higher animal welfare standards among third countries, particularly trading partners who export cheaper, lower-welfare animal products to EU countries. This undermines even the limited progress made so far.
This institutional landscape is disheartening, so how can European citizens and politicians reconnect on animal welfare?
There is an answer, which is clear and can have astonishing effects.
In 2021, the #EUforAnimals campaign was launched, which demands that animal welfare is adequately valued in the European institutions by making this responsibility explicit in the name of the relevant Directorate-General and the job title of the competent EU Commissioner.
In the present context, the Commissioner’s responsibility would become for “Health, Food Safety and Animal Welfare”.
Understanding what an EU Commissioner does is difficult for many citizens, therefore a petition focused on something so technical was more challenging to promote than proposals focusing on specific production methods.
Nevertheless, 309,897 citizens signed the petition calling for an EU Commissioner for Animal Welfare, which was handed in to European Parliament and Commission in October 2023.
The Petition Committee of the European Parliament acknowledged the importance of this proposal, and when it was discussed, all MEPs who spoke expressed their support to its aims. The Committee asked President von der Leyen, Commissioner Kyriakides and the Intergroup on Animal Welfare to respond to this proposal too.
Citizens’ support is only part of the story. 208 MEPs elected in the 2019-24 term joined this campaign, and already nearly 100 new MEPs have done it too, even before the first plenary meeting of the Parliament.
Will animal welfare meet democracy, then?
As the dialogues and negotiations for the formation of the new Commission are taking place, the proposed President Ursula von der Leyen has already been asked by MEPs of various political orientations to include in the college of Commissioners of her second term an EU Commissioner for “Health, Food Safety and Animal Welfare”.
Her answers so far have not been negative, but not sufficiently positive either, and the clock is ticking.
Reconnecting EU institutions and citizens is seen by many as a priority, also to limit the impact of fake news and negative messages that are flooding all countries.
Animal welfare is not the only topic citizens care for, but it is one that rightly finds great support in society, and that can have the power to restore some trust in politicians and institutions, if it is addressed in a honest and concrete way.
In the last term of the EU Commission a lot of preparatory work was done to update some anachronistic legislation on animal welfare, but almost nothing was delivered. Other nice words and failed attempts generated by lack of resources, transparency and accountability would cause immense damage to millions of animals, but also to the trust of those among us who would feel betrayed again by their institutions on this important front.
It is therefore essential that in the coming days and weeks the necessary reform proposed by the #EUforAnimals campaign is supported by Ms von der Leyen and by the Commissioner who will be in charge of animal welfare. The latter should finally have the duty and means to deliver concrete results.
An EU Commissioner for “Health, Food Safety and Animal Welfare” is the response that we expect from the next Commission to reconnect citizens and institutions, thus granting billions of animals the better treatment that they deserve, and that citizens demand.
The #EUforAnimals campaign is an initiative of GAIA
