COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMVIUNITIES 
C0M(93) 384 final 
Brussels, 22 July 1993 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 
AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 
ON THE PROTECTION OF ANIMALS 
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INTRODUCTION 
The protection of animals is a matter of political importance. The 
European Parliament has repeatedly stressed its desire to see the 
Community adopt effective measures on the subject. 
The Community has always taken account of the protection of animals, 
particularly when drawing up the common agricultural policy, and 
Community provisions have been in force since 1974 concerning the 
protection of animals on farms, during transport and at the time of 
slaughter. 
When the internal market was established, particular attention was paid 
to achieving a high standard of animal health in accordance with the 
Single Act. In addition, the reform of the common agricultural policy 
has placed particular emphasis on the encouragement of extensive 
stockfarming, which is more conducive to the protection of the 
environment and of animals. 
The intergovernmental Conference at Maastricht confirmed this approach 
when, in Declaration No. 24 on the Protection of Animals, annexed to the 
final Act, it called upon the European Parliament, the Council and the 
Commission, as well as the Member States, when drafting and implementing 
Community legislation on the common agricultural policy, transport, the 
internal market and research, to pay full regard to the welfare 
requirements of animals. 
However, the protection of animals is not the exclusive preserve of the 
Community; all European countries have firmly committed themselves to it 
within the Council of Europe, where there is a broad consensus on the 
need for a high and uniform level of protection. 
For many years, the Council of Europe and the Community have been acting 
in parallel to improve the protection of animals in the fields of 
farming, transport and slaughter. Despite this parallel action there are 
discrepancies between the areas covered and the level of detail in the 
rules introduced. The existing rules and current proposals of the 
Council of Europe and the Community are described in Annex 1. A chart of 
signatures and ratifications, by the Member States and the Community, of 
the Council of Europe Conventions, is given in Annex 2. 
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The purpose of this Communication is to examine existing legislation 
concerning the protection of animals in greater detail and to draw the 
necessary conclusions for Community action in this area. 
I. THE LEGAL SITUATION 
1. Council of Europe Conventions and Recommendations. 
a) The Conventions and Recommendations of the Council of Europe are 
based on ethical concepts common to all the participating countries. The 
Conventions, to which all contracting parties must give effect, 
establish certain general principles; Recommendations set out more 
detailed rules based on scientific knowledge. In both cases, the 
underlying aim is to avoid the infliction of unnecessary suffering or 
injury, and to provide conditions for animals in accordance with their 
specific biological needs. 
b) The European Convention for the protection of animals kept for 
farming purposes has established a Standing Committee, which is 
responsible for drawing up and adopting Recommendations addressed to the 
contracting parties. These Recommendations contain detailed rules for 
applying the principles of the Convention to the different types of farm 
animal. They are not mandatory, in that each contracting party must, 
after a period of 6 months (or longer if the Committee so decides), 
either implement the Recommendation or inform the Standing Committee of 
its reasons for not, or no longer, doing so. If two or more contracting 
parties or the Community notify their decision not to, or no longer to, 
apply a Recommendation, it ceases to have effect. 
c) The European Conventions for the protection of animals during 
international transport and animals for slaughter do not have Standing 
Committees. Recommendations on transport and slaughter have been 
adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. These 
are not legally linked to the Conventions. 
d) The Community as such is currently a contracting party only to the 
Convention for the protection of animals kept for farming purposes. 
Within the Standing Committee the Community exercises its right to vote 
with the number of votes equal to the number of its Member States which 
are also contracting parties. The Community does not use its vote in 
cases where its Member States use theirs, and vice versa (internal rules 
of the Standing Committee). 
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2. Community law 
a) Community competence 
(i) The common agricultural policy 
The protection of animals, being part of the common agricultural policy, 
is a matter of exclusive Community competence*. Live animals are 
listed as agricultural products in Annex II to the Treaty and the 
protection of animals during rearing, transport and slaughter helps to 
achieve the objectives set out in Article 39 of the Treaty, in 
particular the objective in paragraph 1(a) "to increase agricultural 
productivity by promoting technical progress and by ensuring the 
rational development of agricultural production". 
(ii) Removal of barriers to the free movement of goods 
Community rules on the protection of animals also help to ensure freedom 
of trade and to prevent distortion of competition, both of which 
objectives are an integral part of the common agricultural policy. 
The removal of barriers to the free movement of goods, and the general 
rules of competition ensuring equal treatment of operators, are among 
the exclusive competences of the Community. They do not, therefore, come 
within the scope of the 2nd paragraph of Article 3B of the Treaty on 
European Union. In these areas the Community has an obligation as to the 
results to be achieved: to guarantee free movement of goods on the one 
hand and the equal treatment of operators on the other. 
In particular, Community legislation on the protection of animals during 
transport is necessary for the achievement of the single market. Given 
that Article 36 of the Treaty of Rome allows Member States the 
possibility to impose restrictions on trade "Justified on grounds of the 
protection of health and life of animals", free trade 
within the Community can only be ensured by harmonizing legislation on 
the protection of animals during transport. The White Book already 
arrived at this conclusion and provided for a proposal on the subject. 
See Judgment of the Court in the "laying hens" case: Judgment of 
23.2.1988, cases 68/86 and 131/86. 
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(Ni) General rules on competition 
Freedom of movement must, however, be accompanied by equal conditions of 
competition. Rules on the protection of animals cannot be limited to 
transport; If rearing conditions, and treatment before slaughter, differ 
significantly from one Member State to another considerable distortion 
of competition may result (e.g. cage area for laying hens). Such 
distortion of competition may put the effective functioning of the 
market organisations at risk. A uniform basic approach in all Member 
States is, therefore, imperative. 
b) Legislative principles 
(i) It follows from the above considerations that Community legislation 
on the protection of animals is necessary and that it has three 
object ives: 
- to improve the protection of animals; 
- to contribute to the implementation of the common agricultural 
policy, in particular; 
- to guarantee free movement of animals and products in the single 
market and the equal treatment of producers. 
In accordance with the 3rd paragraph of Article 3B of the Treaty on 
European Union, action by the Community must not go beyond what is 
necessary to achieve these objectives. 
(ii) Article 228 of the Treaty of Rome lays down conditions for the 
conclusion of agreements between the Community and international 
organizations such as the Council of Europe. It states that agreements 
concluded under these conditions are binding on the institutions of the 
Community and on Member States. According to the case law of the Court 
of Justice, the provisions of such an agreement are an integral part of 
the Community's legal system, as are acts adopted by bodies set up to 
implement the agreement. 
However, in the field of the protection of animals the case law does not 
go so far as to confer direct applicability of the Council of Europe 
rules to which the Community adheres. In fact, the contents of the 
Conventions are too vague to be directly applicable and the 
Recommendations are not mandatory. To ensure uniform application in the 
Member States the Community must provide itself with an appropriate 
legal framework. 
(iii) Up to the present, the Community has acted by adopting 
Directives on a case-by-case basis. This Community legislation is 
entirely autonomous, even in the livestock farming sector where the 
Community is a contracting party to the Council of Europe Convention, 
because the Directives in this field were presented to and discussed by 
the Council at the same time as the Council of Europe was debating its 
Recommendations on the same subjects. 
The Directives currently in force lay down minimum conditions which the 
Member States may improve on, and correspond roughly to the rules laid 
down in the Council of Europe Recommendations on the same species. They 
do not include the whole of those texts, so in general they are less 
detailed in substance, but in some cases they are more detailed and 
precise on certain points. 
I I. THE FUTURE APPROACH 
In view of the situation described above, there are three options for 
future action: 
Option 1 
The Community limits itself to adhering to the Conventions of the 
Council of Europe. Given that the rules of the Conventions and the acts 
adopted by the bodies set up under them are an integral part of the 
Community's legal system, no other action is required at Community 
level. 
This appears to be the simplest solution in terms of Community 
legislation as it seems to allow for an economy of legislation on 
subjects covered by Conventions to which the Community is or will become 
a contracting party. 
Such a conclusion would, however, be mistaken. In reality, experience 
shows that despite the adhesion of Member States to the rules of the 
Council of Europe the practical transposition of those rules leaves much 
to be desired. In any case, the nature and effects of international 
legal instruments are such that they do not offer the guarantees of 
legal security and uniform application which result from Community law. 
Community adhesion to these instruments is insufficient to resolve this 
problem unless it is accompanied by the means to: 
-ensure the application of the content of these instruments 
throughout the territory of the Member States in the same way as for 
Community texts; 
-make the texts of the international instruments available in all 
Community languages; 
-supplement their provisions to provide any extra detail necessary 
for Community purposes, e.g. inspection arrangements, Community 
committee procedures and enforcement provisions. 
In view of these requirements, the Community cannot refrain from laying 
down supplementary rules. 
Option Z 
The Community adheres to the Conventions, thus accepting their rules 
into the Community's legal system; it also adopts the instruments needed 
to ensure the application of those provisions throughout the territory 
of the Member States and to supplement them where necessary, it 
therefore legislates, but without repeating the content of the Council 
of Europe texts. 
Option 2 would appear to solve the problems outlined above for option 1 
white making it possible to reduce the volume of Community legislation. 
However, this conclusion would also be mistaken, because: 
- the Conventions and Recommendations of the Council of Europe are, 
from a Community point of view, sometimes inadequate in scope. For 
example, the scope of the transport Convention is restricted to 
international transport; as far as the Community is concerned this 
means transport between the EC and third countries. However, as 
stated above, the establishment of the single market requires 
harmonized rules on the transport of animals within the Community; 
- In the case of Recommendations, although parts of them could be 
transposed into binding legislation, other parts consist of advice, 
or codes of practice, and their transposition into binding 
legislation would be unrealistic, unenforceable and contrary to 
their original objective; 
- In the case of the Recommendations adopted under the Convention for 
the protection of farm animals, their application in Community law 
would risk being followed by their ceasing to have effect at the 
level of the Council of Europe, as a result of notification of their 
non-application by two contracting parties who are not Member States 
of the Community, or even of the Council of Europe. 
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These three problems would cause legal insecurity and would, therefore, 
prevent the attainment of the objectives of the Community, as set out in 
this Communication. 
Option 3 
It follows from the above discussion that if the Community is to achieve 
the objectives of improving the protection of animals, thus contributing 
to the implementation of the CAP, and of guaranteeing freedom of 
movement in the single market and the equal treatment of producers, it 
must not only participate in the work of the Council of Europe but also 
adopt autonomous Community legislation on the protection of animals. 
Under option 3, therefore, the Community, as a contracting party to a 
Convention, complies with the rules laid down by the Council of Europe 
by transposing them into autonomous Community law through specific legal 
instruments containing the Convention and its secondary acts, or the 
appropriate parts of those acts, and including other provisions deemed 
necessary. 
To overcome the difficulties raised by options 1 and 2, option 3 allows 
for the rules of the Council of Europe to be adopted in the manner and 
detail necessary for the purposes of Community law, in accordance with 
the 3rd paragraph of Article 3B of the Treaty on European Union. Under 
this option, the Community reserves the right to decide which legal 
instrument is the most appropriate for the transposition of the Council 
of Europe rules. 
The Community act would also include any necessary additional 
provisions, for example with a view to ensuring free circulation and 
preventing distortion of competition, as well as other provisions needed 
for the application of the rules within the Community. The Commission 
should also participate fully on behalf of the Community within the 
Council of Europe and its committees, in the preparation of Conventions 
and Recommendations, acting on the basis of negotiating guidelines 
adopted by the Council. In addition, the Council act should provide a 
legal basis for the Commission, acting in accordance with a Regulatory 
Committee procedure, to adopt implementing rules of a technical nature. 
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Summary 
Option 3 is the only solution which: 
- achieves the objectives set out in this communication; 
- enables the Community to comply with its international obligations, 
and; 
- allows for the degree of flexibility necessary for the adoption at 
Community level of the provisions of the Council of Europe. 
III. CONCLUSIONS 
1. Consequences for legislation in force 
a) Laying hens: since the current Directive on the protection of laying 
hens kept in battery cages was introduced at the request of the 
Council, it would not appear to be a candidate for review in terms 
of Article 3B of the Treaty on European Union. In addition, this 
Directive has been in force since 1988, with a transitional period 
for its full application until 1995. More than half of the producers 
involved have already made the investments necessary to comply with 
its requirements and others are in the process of doing so. Were the 
Directive to be repealed, those producers who have made little or no 
progress towards its implementation would be in an artificially 
favourable position and serious difficulties would arise with regard 
to freedom of movement and distortion of competition. 
b) Calves and pigs: The Directives on the protection of calves and pigs 
are a response partly to a request from Parliament and partly to 
pressure from Member States. The deadline for their transposition is 
1 January 1994; one Member State has notified transposition and 
procedures are at an advanced stage in at least five other Member 
States. 
For reasons of legal security and economic certainty, the abovementioned 
Directives should be retained. 
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2. Consequences for the future 
a) Protection of animals kept for farming purposes 
- The Council is invited to authorise, without delay, the deposition 
of the Community instrument of approval of the Protocol of Amendment 
to the European Convention for the protection of animals kept for 
farming purposes; 
- Discussions in the Council on the Commission proposal for a 
Regulation on the protection of animals kept for farming purposes 
should resume, with a view to its early adoption-, 
- Following the adoption of the abovementioned text, measures should 
be taken to transpose the Recommendations of the Standing Committee 
on those animals not already covered by the Directives referred to 
in 111.1. (above). 
b) Protection of animals during transport 
- A communication and proposal in accordance with Article 13 of 
Council Directive 91/628/EEC is being sent to the Council; 
-A proposal for Community accession to the European Convention for 
the protection of animals during international transport, and its 
additional protocol, will be sent to the Council along with an 
invitation to authorise, without delay, the deposition of the 
Community instrument of approval. 
c) Protection of animals for slaughter 
-The Council is invited to authorise, without delay, the deposition 
of the Community instrument of approval of the European Convention 
for the protection of animals for slaughter; 
- Discussions in the Council on the Commission proposal for a 
Regulation on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or 
killing should continue, with a view to its early adoption. 
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ANNEX 1 
EXISTING RULES AND PROPOSALS 
1. Farming 
a) The Counc11 of Europe has adopted the European Convention for the 
protection of animals kept for farming purposes which lays down general 
principles as well as implementation procedures. 
This Convention has been put into practice by a series of 
recommendations drawn up by the Standing Committee of the Convention, 
laying down specific and detailed rules on: 
- poultry (adopted on 21 November 1986) 
- pigs (adopted on 21 November 1986) 
- cattle (adopted on 21 October 1988) 
- fur animals (adopted on 19 October 1990) 
- goats (adopted on 6 November 1992) 
- sheep (adopted on 6 November 1992) 
- calves (adopted on 6 June 1993). 
The Convention has been ratified by all Community Member States. The 
Recommendations have been accepted unanimously by all Member States, 
with the exception of two abstensions of a formal character by Denmark. 
b) The Community has been a party, since 1988, to the European 
Convention for the protection of animals kept for farming purposes 
(Decision 78/923/EEC of 19 June 1978 - 0J No L 323, 17.11.1978, p. 12). 
The Council has also approved a Protocol of Amendment to the Convention 
(Decision 92/583/EEC - OJ No L 395, 31.12.1992, p.21); the instrument 
approving the Protocol has not yet been deposited because the Council 
has decided to await ratification by all the Member States. 
At Community level, Directives also exist covering: 
- laying hens kept in battery cages (Council Directive 88/166/EEC 
of 7 March 1988 - OJ No L 74, 19.3.1988, p.83); 
- calves (Directive 91/629/EEC of 19 November 1991 - OJ No L 340, 
11.12.1991, p.28) 
- pigs (Directive 91/630/EEC of 19 November 1991 - OJ No L 340, 
11.12.1991, p.33). 
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In addition, on 18 May 1992 the Commission presented a proposal for a 
Council Directive on Community rules covering the general aspects of 
livestock rearing (OJ No C 156, 13.6.1992, p.11). 
2. Transport 
a) The CounciI of Europe has adopted a European Convention for the 
protection of animals during international transport, supplemented by a 
Protocol (now entered into force) permitting, in particular, accession 
by the Community. 
Unlike the Convention on animals kept for farming purposes, no 
provisions have been included for implementation, but the Committee of 
Ministers has issued recommendations concerning: 
- horses (adopted on 17 September 1987) 
- pigs (adopted on 12 September 1988) 
- cattle (adopted on 15 January 1990) 
- sheep and goats (adopted on 21 February 1990) 
- poultry (adopted on 21 February 1990). 
These recommendations take the form of codes of conduct and are not 
directly linked to the Convention from a legal point of view. They have 
all been adopted unanimously by the Committee of Ministers. 
b) The Community is not a contracting party. To date the Commission 
has not presented a proposal to the Council with a view to acceding to 
the Convention. Preparatory work is underway. 
However, a Community Directive (91/628/EEC of 19 November 1991 - OJ 
No L 340, 11.12.1991, p.17) applies to the transport of animals between 
and within Member States. This Directive was included in the White 
Paper on the single market. Importation, transit and the transport in 
and through Community territory of live animals coming from third 
countries is not allowed unless the exporter and/or importer undertake 
in writing to abide by the requirements of the Directive and have taken 
measures to do so. 
Under Article 13 of the Directive the Commission was to submit a report 
before 1 July 1992, accompanied if necessary by proposals for the 
introduction of more detailed rules. These proposals were delayed 
pending the adoption of this Communication by the Commission. 
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3. Slaughter 
a) The Council of Europe has adopted the European Convention for the 
protection of animals for slaughter, as well as a recommendation by the 
Committee of Ministers (adopted unanimously on 17 June 1991) on the 
slaughter of animals, the legal status of which is the same as that of 
the recommendations concerning the transport of animals. 
b) The Community has approved the Convention (by Council Decision of 
16 May 1988 - OJ No L 137, 2.6.1988, p.25), but the instrument of 
approval has not yet been deposited, pending ratification by the Member 
States. The Commission has, however, made a declaration expressing its 
disagreement with that position. 
There is also a Community Directive (74/577/EEC of 18 November 1974 - OJ 
No L 316, 26.11.1974, p.10) on the stunning of animals before slaughter. 
On 25 November, the Council was presented with a proposal for a 
Regulation on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or 
killing (OJ No C 314, 5.12.1991, p. 14), amended to take account of the 
changes proposed by Parliament (C0M(92) 460 final of 16 November 1992). 
This proposal is currently being studied by the Council. It covers a 
number of topics not included in the Convention or the recommendation of 
the Council of Europe (welfare outside slaughterhouses, animals kept for 
their fur, etc.), as well as taking up certain other aspects covered in 
those texts. 
ANNEX 2 
European Treaty 
Series 
Member States 
Belgium 
Denmark 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Ireland 
Italy 
Luxembourg 
Netherlands 
Portugal 
Spain 
United Kingdom 
EEC 1 
Ratification 
Accession (A) 
21/11/73 D 
24/06/69 T 
09/01/74 D 
09/01/74 D 
25/05/78 
14/03/75 R 
03/05/74 D 
13/04/72 
04/09/80 T 
01/06/82 
(A) 02/08/74 
09/01/74 D/T II 
Ratification 
Accession (A) 
13/09/79 
28/01/80 T 
10/01/78 
09/03/78 
12/11/84 
07/04/76 
07/02/86 
19/01/79 
21/04/81 D/T 
20/04/82 
05/05/88 
08/01/79 T 
18/10/88 III 
Signature 
10/05/79 
20/06/79 
10/05/79 
10/05/79 
12/11/84 
06/10/80 
19/02/80 
10/05/79 
25/02/81 
18/12/79 
10/05/79 Ratification 
Accession (A) 
23/02/81 T 
24/02/84 
12/11/84 
10/12/81 
07/02/86 
24/07/80 
27/06/86 T 
03/11/81 IV 
Signature 
06/02/92 
06/02/92 
25/02/92 
10/06/92 
29/04/92 
06/02/92 
06/02/92 Ratification 
Accession (A) 
20/01/93 
II European Convention for the protection of animals during International transport (Paris, 13/12/68) 
European Convention for the protection of animals kept for farming purposes (Strasbourg, 10/03/76) 
European Convention for the protection of animals for slaughter (Strasbourg, 10/05/79) 
Protocol of Amendment to the European Convention for the protection of animals kept for farming purposes 
(Strasbourg, 06/02/92) 
T : Territorial declaration Reservation D : Declaration 
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ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(93) 384 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 03 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-93-416-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-58393-2 
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