Thwarted revolution

A leak from earlier this year outlined the Commission’s plans for the world’s most comprehensive farm animal welfare reforms to date. In addition to the ban on cages, which would affect 300 million farmed animals caged in the EU every year, the Commission planned to ban on the routine mutilation of hundreds of millions of animals every year, to stop inhumane slaughter of around a billion farmed fish, and reduce the overcrowding and pain-inducing growth rate of about 11 billion broiler chickens annually.

The right-wing allies in the European Parliament, who have been blocking the EU’s Green Deal, are now opposing the animal welfare revolution. Yesterday, on 3 October, the European People’s Party deputy in charge of agriculture Herbert Dorfmann put pressure on the new Green Deal Chief to stick to the comments made by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last month and not to present the proposals this legislative term.

Last month, media reports warned about a backslide on the Commission’s commitment to phase out cages for 300 million farmed pigs, egg-laying hens, rabbits, and other species every year, as well as other animal welfare measures in line with the science of the 21^st century. On 2 October, the centre-left group Socialists & Democrats sent a letter, urging Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to present the proposal.