Why Animal Welfare is no longer a DG AGRI competence, and why it must be included in an EU Commissioner’s job title.
Dear President von der Leyen,
As the announcement of nominees for the new European Commission approaches, it is important to emphasise once again that Animal Welfare should finally be explicitly mentioned in the job title of the relevant EU Commissioner, as it is wished by 70% of Europeans (Ipsos, June 2024).
This is also a good opportunity to remember why – around 25 years ago- the competence for animal welfare was moved from the DG in charge of Agriculture to the one in charge of Health.
The obvious fact that animals are sentient beings rather than agricultural products was officially acknowledged by the European institutions as recently as 1999, when this notion was recognised for the first time in the Amsterdam Treaty. In reaction, back then, several Member States - Austria, Belgium and Italy - decided to move the competence on animal welfare, at national level, from their agricultural ministry to their ministry of health, also reflecting this important ethical recognition.
The same decision was made at the European level.
Successively, in Belgium, the responsibility for animal welfare was even made explicit in the job titles of the relevant regional ministers. This important change has clearly led to more progress for animals in the past twenty years. Indeed, in that situation, one minister is clearly accountable for the highest protection for animals, leading to, in general, better compromises as final legislation.
One of the obvious reasons for the move of this competence from Agriculture to Health, which remains valid nowadays, was that the scope of animal welfare goes beyond that of farmed animals: within the EU, there is a wide range of animals requiring protection, such as wild animals, those used for scientific purposes, equines and companion animals. Considering them as agricultural products would not only be anachronistic, but also an obstacle to the formulation of legislation based on the individual characteristics and needs of those animals rather than their potential economic value.
The management of potential conflicts between the financial interests of specific economic sectors in the remit of the portfolio, and the general interest of the population always depends on the person in charge, but it is evident that such separation was much more difficult to achieve in a DG characterised by the priority to support production and the interest of producers. Animals are not products.
Also, in recent years the “One Health” principle has been become increasingly central for the European Commission. Animal health is an essential component of animal welfare. Their connections with human and environmental health are increasingly evident.
After 25 years, many more people agree that how we treat animals - and how we reply to the concerns of millions of EU citizens - cannot be entirely dependent on a single person’s ethics. Rather, putting in place institutional safeguards is essential to prevent problems and remains a more effective measure.
This is why nearly 310,000 citizens and over 200 MEPs in the 2019-24 term of the Parliament, and already over 100 MEPs in the new one, have expressed their support to the #EUforAnimals campaign, which demands that animal welfare is given more prominence by the EU 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”.
On September 4, MEPs across the political spectrum reaffirmed this need during a roundtable organised in collaboration with The Brussels Times. They stated that having an EU Commissioner explicitly in charge of Animal Welfare would allow for it to be given a higher priority and ensure better legislation and enforcement.
In the coming days, you will announce your proposal for the composition of the new EU Commission. In your hands is the future of billions of animals, for which a better future will be possible if – continuing to maintain the responsibility for animal welfare separate from the one from agriculture – such responsibility will be shown in the job title of the relevant Commissioner.
This would also be an excellent concrete way to show the EU citizens that their institutions are listening to their call for a better treatment of animals in Europe and worldwide.
The letter is signed by the 64 animal welfare organisations below.
#EUforAnimals campaign is an initiative of GAIA
