Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2018:747
Date: 2018-09-20
Language of the case: French
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Foodstuffs;Consumer protection;Veterinary legislation
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: France

summary of the impact analysis, accompanying the document ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on organic production and labelling of organic products, amending Regulation (EU) No XXX/XXX of the European Parliament and of the Council (Regulation on official controls) and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007’, of 24 March 2014 (COM(2014) 180 final, p. 11 and references cited). 21 Council Regulation of 24 June 1991 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs (OJ 1991 L 198, p. 1). 22 Council Regulation of 24 February 2004 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 (OJ 2004 L 65, p. 1). 23 Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 (OJ 2018 L 150, p. 1). 24 See judgment of 4 June 2015, Andechser Molkerei Scheitz v Commission (C‑682/13 P, not published, EU:C:2015:356, paragraph 36). 25 See, in particular, judgments of 5 November 2014, Herbaria Kräuterparadies (C‑137/13, EU:C:2014:2335, paragraph 42), and of 12 October 2017, Kamin und Grill Shop (C‑289/16, EU:C:2017:758, paragraph 30). 26 My emphasis. 27 My emphasis. 28 My emphasis. 29 See Article 1(1) of Regulation No 1099/2009. 30 See, to that effect, my Opinion in Liga van Moskeeën en Islamitische Organisaties Provincie Antwerpen and Others (C‑426/16, EU:C:2017:926, points 35 and 64 to 68). 31 See also recitals 24, 37 and 43 of that regulation. 32 Judgment of 29 May 2018, Liga van Moskeeën en Islamitische Organisaties Provincie Antwerpen and Others (C‑426/16, EU:C:2018:335, paragraph 63). 33 See judgment of 19 October 2017, Vion Livestock (C‑383/16, EU:C:2017:783). 34 OJ 2009 L 204, p. 15. 35 The EU legislature’s desire to reconcile the protection of freedom of religion with the protection of animal welfare was already evident in the adoption of Council Directive 74/577/EEC of 18 November 1974 on stunning of animals before slaughter (OJ 1974 L 316 p. 10) and may still be found in Regulation No 1099/2009, which is currently in force. 36 See Article 2(i) and Article 14(1)(b)(viii) of Regulation No 834/2007, and also Article 12(5) and Article 76(b) of Regulation No 889/2008. 37 Working document of the services of the Commission, summary of the impact analysis, accompanying the document ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on organic production and labelling of organic products, amending Regulation (EU) No XXX/XXX of the European Parliament and of the Council (Regulation on official controls) and repealing Council Regulation No 834/2007’, of 24 March 2014 (COM(2014) 180 final/SWD(2014) 66 final, p. 91). 38 In the present case, it is interesting to note that while OABA disputes the ‘organic farming’ certificate issued by Ecocert, which it maintains is contrary to the legislation on organic farming, at the same time it seeks an amendment of the legislation in force. 39 Many animal protection associations thus argue in favour of labelling indicating the slaughtering method employed. However, the relevance of such labelling is open to debate (see the findings of the investigation report, cited in footnote 19, pp. 118 to 120). 40 See, in particular, Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, amending Regulations (EC) No 1924/2006 and (EC) No 1925/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Commission Directive 87/250/EEC, Council Directive 90/496/EEC, Commission Directive 1999/10/EC, Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Commission Directives 2002/67/EC and 2008/5/EC and Commission Regulation (EC) No 608/2004 (OJ 2011 L 304, p. 18). Recital 50 of Regulation No 1169/2011 states, however, that ‘… a study on the opportunity to provide consumers with the relevant information on the stunning of animals should be considered in the context of a future Union strategy for the protection and welfare of animals’ (emphasis added). The results of that study, which was eventually carried out at the request of the Commission’s Directorate-General ‘Health and Food Safety’, and the findings of which were published on 23 February 2015 (https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/animals/docs/aw_practice_slaughter_fci-stunning_report_en.pdf), show, in particular, that for most consumers information about pre-slaughter stunning is not an important issue, provided that it is not brought to their attention. 41 See, in particular, judgments of 23 April 2015, Zuchtvieh-Export (C-424/13, EU:C:2015:259, paragraph 35), and of 29 May 2018, Liga van Moskeeën en Islamitische Organisaties Provincie Antwerpen and Others (C-426/16, EU:C:2018:335, paragraph 64 and the case-law cited).