The European Commission is currently drafting its proposal for the 7th Environment Action Programme which should be adopted in November this year.

As part of the impact assessment, a public consultation was organised from 12 March until 1 June 2012, which aimed to collect the views of all stakeholders, at EU and national level, on the environment policy priorities to be addressed and on the most effective tools to use for the next 8 years (2013-2020).

Eurogroup submitted its comments and concerns, calling on the European Commission to thoroughly take into account animal welfare.

To see the results, click here

More information about the 7th Environment Action Programme and animal welfare on our website

Dan Jørgensen MEP, President of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals won an MEP Award 2012 from the Parliament Magazine in the new category of animal welfare.

The award, sponsored by Eurogroup’s Member Organisation the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), recognises the work of an individual who has made an excellent contribution in furthering the cause of animal welfare, both through campaigns and EU legislation.

To read further details, click here

The European Parliament’s Written Declaration 23/2012 on the protection of dolphins in the Black Sea launched by Kristian Vigenin MEP calls on the Commission, the Council and the Member States to take all appropriate measures in order to ensure that dolphins in the Black Sea are better protected.

Deadline to gather the 369 requisite signatures is 8 November 2012 and 93 signatures have been collected so far.

To see the Written Declaration, click here

The European Parliament’s Environment Committee voted on 19 September on two opinions on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The outcome of the vote on the draft opinion by Mrs Kadenbach MEP on rural development is very much welcomed as the Committee has taken into account a very large number of our concerns, which could result in animal welfare being a more prominent objective of the CAP if adopted in plenary.

Concerning the draft opinion by Dan Jørgensen MEP on direct payments, amendments adopted would allow to increase the money allocated to rural development, which could then be used to improve animal welfare.

Overall, this vote sends a clear message to the leading Committee on Agriculture and the European Commission that animal welfare should be improved as part of enhancing the sustainability of EU farms.

To read further details, click here

In light of Directive (EC) 2001/88 laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs and set to come into force as of 1 January 2013, Member States are due to implement a mandatory ban on the use of individual sow stalls for pregnant sows and gilts.

Based on the latest data provided by the European Commission, nine Member States are still not ready.

More precise figures are expected to be made available by the European Commission in the course of October.

For all details, click here

Cooperl Arc Atlantique, a major group of French pig breeders accounting for 20% of the whole pig production in France, announced it will propose plans designed to stop the castration of piglets by March 2013.

According to the group, the decision, spurred by growing consumer concern, is an ambitious step in their drive towards higher welfare standards for pigs, which also includes compliance with the requirements of group housing of sows due to take effect on 1 January 2013.

The initiative which at the moment is based on a voluntary basis is a great step forward for improved welfare of pigs and is in line with the European declaration on the Alternatives to Surgical Castration of Pigs introduced by the European Commission to stop this painful practice in the EU by 1 January 2018

For further details, click here

The European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office published the outcome of audits carried out in Belarus and Romania earlier this year.
The first audit, carried out in Belarus, had for objective to evaluate whether the official control system for poultry meat destined for export to the European Union can provide equivalent guarantees to those required by European Union legislation.

The report concludes that the system of official controls is not yet equivalent to the requirements of European Union legislation, especially with regards to ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections and animal welfare controls. The FVO further recommends that the Competent Authority must ensure that animal welfare conditions are in line with EU requirements, especially in the area of the protection of birds at the time of slaughter and the unloading of birds.

For more details, click here

The second audit, carried out in Romania, evaluated official controls related to the slaughter and processing of fresh meat, in particular fresh ovine meat and the follow-up action taken by the competent authorities in response to the recommendations made in a previous report (2010-8512).

While the report shows that major shortcomings still remain, auditors highlighted that a recommendation urging the competent authorities to comply with Council Directive 93/119/EC on the protection of animals at the time of the slaughter or killing has not been addressed yet.

The report further shows that the additional specific animal welfare official controls had not been carried out in all the slaughterhouses as stated in the guarantees given to the Commission services by the central competent authority.

Lastly, two out of three slaughterhouses visited showed animal welfare deficiencies that had not previously been identified by the system of official controls in place. The deficiencies included the hanging of conscious lambs on the line before the throat cut during Halal slaughter.

To read the report, click here

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published its report of a technical meeting which considered the use of animal-based measures to assess the welfare of dairy cows, pigs and broilers. The document also includes recommendations on best practices on data collection.

To see the report, click here

For more information on EFSA’s animal-based indicators, click here

The European Union Reference Laboratory on Alternatives to Animal Testing launched a Search Guide which has been specifically developed to inform and support untrained database users to find high quality information on relevant alternative strategies and methods to animal experiments in an easy, yet systematic, efficient and effective way.
To read the documents, click here

At the last European Parliament’s Animal Welfare Intergroup session, Horst Schnellhardt MEP gave a presentation on his draft report on the proposed revision of the Regulation on the non-commercial movement of pet animals.

Eurogroup for Animals also used this opportunity to present its position and to call for the compulsory permanent identification and registration of animals which are being moved between EU Member States, as well as their pet passports.

More information on the Intergroup meeting is available here

Canada and Norway have resumed their challenge of the EU moratorium on the trade of seal products by restarting the panel composition process which was originally initiated in 2011.

More information can be found here

Results of the European Commission’s online public consultation that occurred earlier this year on the pending EU Invasive Alien Species Strategy have finally been published.
Over 5000 respondents participated, with a large response from lobbyists interested in exotic pets and the majority of replies from the UK, Spain, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

The Commission anticipates publishing its proposal for a new legislative framework for Invasive Alien Species by the end of 2012.

The consultation results can be found here

Meanwhile, the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) launched the European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN) to map and classify alien species in Europe in order to reduce the economic impact of alien species estimated at €12 billion/year.

This new information network combines existing databases allowing users to map the distribution of alien species, assessing environments and pathways of introduction.

For more information on EASIN, click here

On 19 September, the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee voted on a draft report on the Commission's proposal to amend the present EU shark finning ban by adopting a fins naturally attached policy without exception. The rapporteur Maria do Céu Patrão Neves (EPP, Portugal) had sought to undermine this legislative proposal by attempting to retain derogations that would make it still possible to remove fins of sharks on board freezer vessels.

Although a clear majority voted in favour of the Commission's proposal to delete the derogations that currently allow the onboard processing of fins, the Committee also very inconsistently adopted two amendments explicitly referring to the derogations that had been deleted. This led to great confusion among the MEPs and has resulted in a final report with serious discrepancies. It is expected that this problem will be rectified at the Plenary vote. However, new attempts will doubtless be made by the rapporteur to reintroduce the derogations at Plenary too.

For further details, click here

Representatives of US and EU institutions, researchers, leaders of NGOs dedicated to animal welfare and consumers attended to the 3rd meeting of the TAWC in Washington DC on 20 September.
This platform, launched by leading animal welfare organisations in EU and US, was established with the objectives of strengthening the cooperation between animal welfare organisations, share knowledge and expertise, as well as achieve higher standards of animal welfare in EU and US.

Among the topics discussed were the interim report by the EU-US High Level Working Group for Jobs and Growth, the EU/US relationship on sanitary and food safety issues, the current transatlantic collaboration in the field of alternatives to animal experiments, and consumer concerns on trade related to sanitary and food safety standards.

To read the press release issued on the occasion, click here

For further details about the TAWC and to see presentations made by speakers, click here

In November 2011, the EU-US Summit established a High Level Working Group on Growth and Jobs under the responsibility of the US Trade Representative and the EU Trade Commissioner.
The High Level Working Group is due to assess the feasibility of launching EU negotiations for a Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement by the end of 2012.

After the release of an interim report in June, EU and US leaders reaffirmed their interest in a free trade agreement. To see the report, click here

The European Commission and the US Federal Government have opened a joint consultation on regulatory issues for possible future trade agreement, which they both launched on their website here and here

The 25th Conference of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Regional Commission for Europe was held from 17 to 21 September in Fleesensee, Germany.

One of the objectives of the meeting was to determine whether implementing a Regional Animal Welfare Strategy (RAWS) is possible, as it already exists in other OIE regions such as in Asia, Far East, Oceania and the Americas.

The Regional Commission gathers the 27 EU Member States and 26 other European countries (e.g. Iceland, Russia, Azerbaijan) where the level of animal welfare can greatly differ from one member to another.

The 120 delegates estimated that the gap between the different European countries, especially on legislation and education, was still too large and they decided to invite all members of the region to finalise the reflection over a better coordination of actions between members and to establish a steering group, where stakeholders, including NGOs, will be represented.

This steering group, to be supported by the European Commission, and to be approved by the next OIE General Assembly in May 2013, should explore ways to define a common approach to animal welfare in the whole region. If a positive outcome is achieved, a Regional Animal Welfare Strategy should be established in 2014.