Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2011:863
Date: 2011-12-21
Language of the case: Danish
Court formation: Third Chamber
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Veterinary legislation
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Denmark

Summary of the Judgment 1. Agriculture – Approximation of laws – Protection of animals during transport – General conditions applicable – Internal height of compartments (Council Regulation No 1/2005) 2. Agriculture – Approximation of laws – Protection of animals during transport – General conditions applicable – Regular checks on the welfare conditions of animals during transport (Council Regulation No 1/2005) 3. Agriculture – Approximation of laws – Protection of animals during transport – General conditions applicable – Floor area available per animal (Council Regulation No 1/2005) 1. Regulation No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations does not preclude the adoption, by a Member State, of standards applicable to the transport by road of pigs which, in order to strengthen legal certainty, define, in accordance with the objective of protecting the welfare of animals and without laying down any excessive criteria in that regard, the requirements provided for by that regulation as regards the minimum internal height of compartments intended for animals, provided that those standards do not result in additional costs or technical difficulties which disadvantage either producers in the Member State which has adopted those standards or producers from other Member States who wish to export their goods to or via that first Member State, that being a matter for the national court to determine taking into account the criteria generally accepted, in accordance with Regulation No 1/2005, by Member States other than that which laid down the standards in question. More stringent transitional standards relating to the minimum internal height of compartments for journeys of more than eight hours of pigs weighing over 40 kg cannot, however, be regarded as proportionate since the same Member State has adopted less restrictive standards under the system of general law. (see paras 59-60, 68, operative part) 2. Regulation No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations precludes the adoption, by a Member State, of standards applicable to the transport by road of pigs defining in greater detail the requirements provided for by that regulation in respect of access to animals in order to check regularly their welfare conditions, which relate only to journeys of more than eight hours’ duration. Unlike the position under the system established by Directive 91/628 and Regulation No 411/98, the provisions of Regulation No 1/2005 relating to the inspection of animals during a journey are applicable to all means of transport, irrespective of the journey time. (see paras 62, 68, operative part) 3. Regulation No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations does not preclude the adoption, by a Member State, of standards according to which, when pigs are transported by road, the animals must have a minimum surface area which varies according to their weight, that surface area being, for a 100 kg animal, 0.42 m2 where the journey time is less than eight hours and 0.50 m2 for journeys of more than eight hours. (see para. 68, operative part)