A campaign group has today (Monday, March 19) launched a legal action against the European Commission over its “failure to deliver its commitment to ban caged farming”.
The Citizens’ Committee of the End the Cage Age European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) said papers have been filed at the Court of Justice in Luxembourg outlining the committee’s case.
According to the ECI committee these papers detail that the commission has “failed to act on its promise to introduce legislation to ban cages”.
In 2021 the European Commission set out plans for a “legislative proposal by 2023” to prohibit cages for a number of farm animals.
The proposal was part of the ongoing revision of the animal welfare legislation under the Farm to Fork Strategy.
However the ECI committee said today that the commission had reneged on its “historic promise”.
Olga Kikou, of the Citizens’ Committee of the End the Cage Age ECI, said: “The European Commission promised EU citizens it would deliver a ban on cages.
“Not only has it failed the people, it has clearly failed the 300 million animals still suffering every day in cages. There is no justification for any further delay.
“We have launched this End the Cage Age legal action against the commission on behalf of the voiceless animals and the millions of EU citizens who supported this legislation, believing the ECI to be a genuine democratic tool that would give them more influence over EU decision making.”
European Commission
Back in 2021 European Commission had committed to tabling by the end of 2023, “a legislative proposal to phase out, and finally prohibit, the use of cage systems” for specific animals.
The commission outlined that its proposals would include:
- Animals already covered by legislation: laying hens, sows and calves;
- Other animals mentioned in the ECI: rabbits, pullets, layer breeders, broiler breeders, quail, ducks and geese.
It had also acknowledged that “since an end of the use of cages will require changes to current farming systems” the commission would consider the socio-economic and environmental implications of the measures to be taken and the benefits to animal welfare in an impact assessment to be completed before the end of 2022.
“In this context, a public consultation will be carried out at the latest by early 2022.
“The commission will assess the feasibility of working towards the proposed legislation entering into force from 2027,” it stated.
ECI
However campaigners have accused the commission of bowing to what it has described as the “agriculture lobby”.
The ECI said: “The commission was at the point of publishing its legislative proposals for the ban in autumn last year when it appears President von der Leyen caved in to pressure from the agriculture lobby to put the ban on hold.
“Her State of the European Union speech even echoed the wording of a letter sent to her at that time from farming federation Copa Cogeca.
“This is despite all the appropriate preparation, assessments and consultations already having been carried out by commission officials and the proposals making strong provision for financial support to help farmers transition to cage-free systems during a phase out”.