Pig producers across the EU should deliver higher welfare standards than the EU Pig Directive currently requires, say activists who are now calling for better practices and additional measures to ensure pig welfare.
Fast-growing broilers must be banned in the European Union for animal welfare reasons, the NGO Eurogroup for Animals said, while representatives of European poultry producers countered that this would necessarily lead to higher prices for consumers and environmental problems.
Following the UK Parliament's approval of a ban on the export of live animals, European NGOs are welcoming this "historic" step forward and urging the EU to follow suit.
Hundreds of civil society organisations decried the recent reversal of EU sustainability policies for the bloc’s agrifood sector in an open letter published on May 13.
Europe’s citizens called for an end to the ‘cage age’ with the phasing-out of cages and crates for farm animals. The European Commission agreed but now says more consultation with farmers is needed. The ECJ will calm the coop.
The Canary Islands government has requested a more in-depth impact study from the company behind the project to build Europe's first-ever octopus farm, due to uncertainties over the environmental consequences.
The rising costs of pet food and pet healthcare are making pet ownership harder, says Ann Criel, VP of the Federation of European Companion Animal Veterinary Associations. Euractiv spoke in-depth with Criel at the EU Companion Animals Stakeholder Summit.
European Union agriculture ministers backed on Tuesday (26 March) the European Commission’s initiatives on animal welfare, calling for tougher standards on transport, labelling, and slaughter in the next political mandate.
Lawmakers on the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee backed the Commission's proposal to give farmers greater flexibility to slaughter animals on the farm and thus reduce the need for animal transport, but called for more assistance.
The promoters of the citizens’ initiative ‘End the Cage Age’ on Monday (18 March) filed a case at the European Court of Justice against the EU executive for failing to deliver a promised proposal to phase out cages for farm animals by the end of 2023.
After tabling just a small part of the promised overhaul of legislation on animal welfare, the Commission told the European Parliament plenary on Thursday (14 March) that a revision must rely on a strategic dialogue with stakeholders.
Animal welfare is one of those rare issues that is neither left nor right. Across the political spectrum and irrespective of nationality, you’ll always find politicians who care about the plight of animals; it is certainly not the exclusive domain of the Greens and the Left.
Europe’s 340 million pets are unlikely to swing this year’s European elections, though with cats, one can never be sure. Jennifer Baker looks at Europe’s animal-related policy dynamics and how they could influence June’s electoral mix.
Animal protection is a rare political topic where people and politicians from across the political spectrum express support for the protection of animals, but the issue is rarely seen as a "deciding factor" for election outcomes. Despite the perception that Europe …
The European Commission has made proposals for stricter rules on animal transport and pets, but campaigners have lambasted a number of loopholes, while large parts of the originally envisaged animal welfare overhaul have been left to the next mandate.
The first specialised European Reference Centre for aquatic animals is expected to open in Greece's island of Crete, Greek agriculture minister Lefteris Avgenakis announced after a meeting with EU Health and food safety Commissioner Stella Kyraikides.
A leaked version of the European Commission’s work programme for 2024 lists none of the remaining EU sustainable food files, seemingly confirming stakeholders’ worst fears that these proposals will not see the light of day before next June's EU elections.
The parliamentary hearing to award the Green Deal portfolio to European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič did not offer much clarity on the timeline of the remaining pieces of legislation of the Farm to Fork, the EU's flagship sustainable food policy.
A number of EU agriculture ministers expressly welcomed the idea of a strategic dialogue on agriculture put forth by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, though some lamented that it was not started earlier in the mandate.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gave no reassurances on finalising the missing pieces of the EU's flagship sustainable food policy in her annual State of the Union address on Wednesday (13 September), instead proposing a change of course in the current agri-food debate.
Animal welfare should be explicitly mentioned in the title of a Commissioner in the next legislative mandate to make it a priority of the next EU executive and avoid the risks of having more animal testing in Europe, according to Green MEP Tilly Metz.
The current animal welfare legislation is outdated and in need of an urgent update to respond to societal expectations and scientific evidence. The European Commission should stay true to its commitment to publish this proposal.
A group of more than 100 European Parliament lawmakers have formally asked Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to announce the promised overhaul of the EU's animal welfare legislation as a pending priority, in a bid to present it before her mandate ends next year.
With the European elections around the corner, it is crunch time for determining the legacy of the Green Deal for agriculture and food policy, as lawmakers scramble to rescue the climate-protecting credentials of this legislative mandate.
