The European Commission presented on Wednesday a vision for agriculture and food which it described as an ambitious roadmap on the future of farming and food in Europe without highlighting the importance of animal welfare and the need for improving outdated legislation.
As previously reported, the vision was one of the priorities put forward by the new von der Leyen Commission for the first 100 days of its mandate period. The agreement is also a response to last year's farmers' protests, including those in Brussels that turned violent.
According to the communication, the vision builds on multiple strategic inputs and not only on the Strategic Dialogue on the future of EU agriculture which also dealt with animal welfare. The vision also uses as input papers on competitiveness, the internal market, and civilian and military preparedness, all focusing on other aspects than animal welfare.
“Our farmers take centre stage in the EU's food production system,” commented European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“It is thanks to their daily, hard work that all of us have safe and high-quality food. Yet, our farmers face the growing challenges of global competition and climate change. That is why today, we are offering a comprehensive strategy that makes farming more attractive, more resilient and more sustainable.”
Her comments were echoed by Christophe Hansen, Commissioner for Agriculture and Food. "Food and farming are vital for Europe's people, economy and society . . .The roadmap we are presenting today sets out the path for tackling the many pressures that EU farmers face.”
The vision lists four priority areas: Making farming a viable and appealing career (Attractiveness); Strengthening the sector’s position in global markets (Competitiveness); Embracing innovation and sustainability for long-term resilience (Future-proofing); and Valuing food and fostering fair living and working conditions in rural areas (Connection).
Animal welfare is briefly mentioned under two of the priorities. Regarding competitiveness, the EU writes that it will pursue a “stronger alignment of production standards applied to imported products, notably on pesticides and animal welfare”.
In the area of ‘connection’, it will among others review the EU legislation on animal welfare but the only legislation it mentions is its commitment to phase out the use of cages for farmed animals.
The Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, Olivér Várhelyi, said earlier in February at a conference organised by animal welfare NGOs Eurogroup for Animals and Compassion in World Farming that the vision is “going to be another very important step to show you how we can improve animal welfare in the EU”. While visions are nice to have, he said, much is dependent on how we are going to put them into operation.
He proposed to use this year for that - to come up with solutions on how to improve animal welfare in the EU, in a dialogue with farmers and other stakeholders to meet different needs, including those of the citizens' expectations. “As Commissioner for Animal Welfare, I’m committed to modernizing the rules around animal welfare in the EU.”
Concretely, he referred to the European Citizens' Initiative ‘End the Cage Age'. It was one of the most successful citizens' initiatives, so it is the duty of the Commission to respond, he said, and promised a legislative proposal in 2026 on banning cages (after a delay of three years). He also stressed the need to improve “drastically” the enforcement of existing animal welfare legislation.
“This Vision is just that—a Vision—rather than a real plan or a set of concrete actions,” commented Olga Kikou, Director of Advocacy at The European Institute of Animal Law & Policy and one of the organizers of the ‘End the Cage Age’ European Citizens’ Initiative.
“It’s reassuring to see cages mentioned, and we are waiting to see what the Commission have up their sleeves in regards to this. However, what is glaringly missing is a reference to the urgent need for a change in our diets. What we need are actual solutions for nature-friendly farming that can improve animal welfare.”
“We’re also missing anything related to improved welfare for chickens, reduced stocking densities, an end to more routine mutilations, better welfare for aquatic animals, and the phasing out of cruel slaughter practices,” she added.
According to a Eurobarometer last January, support for the EU's common agricultural policy (CAP) has reached an all-time high with the level of public awareness for the CAP at its highest level since 2007. A previous Eurobarometer from October 2023 focused on animal welfare. In that Eurobarometer European citizens expressed strong support for improving animal welfare.
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
