No C 343/48 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 81 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive laying down minimum standards for the 
protection of laying hens kept in battery cages 
The text referred to the Committee has been published in Official Journal of the 
European Communities No C 208 of 18 August 1981, page 5. 
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION 
On 18 August 1981 the Council referred the abovementioned proposal to the Economic 
and Social Committee in accordance with Article 43 of the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community. 
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
The Economic and Social Committee prepared its opinion on the above matter at its 
191st plenary session held in Brussels on 28 and 29 October 1981. 
The full text of the opinion is as follows: 
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community, and in particular 
Article 43 thereof, 
Having regard to the request from the Council of the 
European Communities on 18 August 1981 for an 
opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive 
laying down minimum standards for the protection 
of laying hens kept in battery cages(l), 
Having regard to the decision of its Bureau on 
22 September 1981 to refer the matter to the Section 
for Agriculture, 
Having regard to the opinion issued by the above 
Section at its 228th meeting, held on 8 October 
1981, 
Having regard to the report drawn up by the 
rapporteur, Mr Hovgaard Jackobsen, 
Having regard to the discussions at its 191st plenary 
session held on 28 and 29 October 1981 (meeting of 
29 October 1981), 
HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING OPINION 
by 53 votes in favour, with none against and 7 
abstentions: 
1. Preliminary remarks 
1.1. Whilst recognizing the importance of proposals 
for the protection of animals, the Committee holds 
(i) OJ No C 208, 18.8. 1981, p. 5. the view that such proposals are not amongst the 
principle objectives of the Treaty of Rome. The 
Commission must not give the impression of being 
more concerned with the protection of animals than 
that of human beings. 
1.2. The Committee has noted that the Commission 
has withdrawn almost all its proposals for Directives 
on the harmonization of foodstuffs for human 
consumption in spite of the importance attached to 
these proposals and the support given to them by the 
Economic and Social Committee, in particular. This 
support came from the full spectrum of Committee 
members, be they representatives of consumers, 
farmers, workers, agro-food industries, trade etc. The 
reasons given for withdrawal are (a) the insufficient 
number of staff available at the Commission, and (b) 
the need to concentrate on more important problems 
and avoid going to extremes. 
1.3. The Committee calls upon the Commission to 
change its priorities to give due consideration to 
improving human living and working conditions, 
leaving for the time being the many details of the 
construction of cages for laying hens to the Member 
States themselves. 
2. Comments on the Commission's proposal 
2.1. The Commission considers it necessary to lay 
down minimal requirements for the cages of laying 
hens, whilst recognizing that the dimensions which it 
31. 12. 81 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 343/49 
stipulates in considerable detail are not based on any 
recognized scientific data. 
The dimensions proposed by the Commission are 
much greater than those of the large majority of the 
cages currently in use in the Community. If the 
proposals were adopted in their present form they 
would inevitably have a prejudical effect on the 
operations of many producers in the Community 
whilst failing to guarantee an improvement in the 
living conditions of battery hens. 
2.2. The Committee agrees that there is a need to 
avoid abuse and exaggeration, particularly in the 
intensive housing of laying hens; it does, however, 
consider that it is not advisable to take the matter 
further as the Commission has acknowledged itself 
that 'it is not possible to clearly define and indicate 
optimum conditions for keeping laying hens'. 
2.3. Should the Council adopt the Directive, despite 
the reservations expressed, the Committee feels that provision must be made for sufficiently long 
transitional periods in cases where EC rules require 
considerable changes to be made to existing 
installations for housing animals. 
The Committee does, however, call upon the 
Commission to ensure that during the transitional 
period the provisions covering existing installations 
and those applicable to new installations are not 
liable to lead to distortions of competition. The 
Committee considers that provision should be made 
for the new installations to be used in the same way as 
the old ones during the transitional period, in 
particular as regards the conditions governing the 
occupation of the cages. 
2.4. Finally, the adoption of standards of the type 
proposed by the Commission would create problems 
of competition vis-a-vis products from non-EEC 
countries where comparable standards were not 
applied. 
Done at Brussels, 29 October 1981. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Tomas ROSEINGRAVE 
APPENDIX 
I. A roll-call vote was taken on the full text of the opinion in which the following Committee 
members, present or represented, voted for the opinion: 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Ms 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr Ammundsen 
Bagiiano 
Benigni 
Beretta 
Berns 
Blamoutsis 
Blasig 
Bredima 
Breitenstein 
Broicher 
Burnel 
de Caffarelli 
Carroll 
Chappie 
Clavel 
Couture 
Cremer 
Curlis Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr Christensen 
Davies 
De Bruyn 
De Grave 
von der Decken 
Doble 
Emo Capodilista 
Fredersdorf 
Friedrichs 
Gallacher 
Goris 
van Greunsven 
Jakobsen 
Jonker 
Kazazis 
Leo 
Loughrey 
Margot 
No C 343/50 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 81 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Ms 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr Masprone 
Morselli 
Muhr 
Murphy 
Paggi 
Patterson 
Pearson 
Pfeiffer 
Rainero 
Romoli Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr 
Mr Schneider 
Schnieders 
Staratzke 
Storm Hansen 
Wick 
Williams 
Zunkler 
The following members, present or represented, abstained: 
Mr De Tavernier 
Mr Evain 
Mr Mills 
Mr Papadopoulos 
Mr Rizos 
Mr Rollinger 
Mr Zoli 
II. Amendments or charges made to the text during discussions. 
The Section opinion whose text follows hereunder, was replaced by a Committee opinion 
presented as an amendment and adopted during discussions. 
' 1. Whilst the Section does not underestimate the importance of the problem dealt with in the 
draft Directive for those directly concerned, it believes that the protection of animals is not 
one of the fundamental objectives of the Treaty of Rome. 
2. The Section has already noticed in the past that the Commission has occasionally been 
more concerned with the protection of animals than of humans, whereas a Programme already 
exists for consumer protection. 
3. It has also noticed that the Commission has withdrawn almost all of its proposals for 
Directives on the harmonization of foodstuffs for human consumption (vertical directives) 
despite the fact that the interest groups within the Economic and Social Committee 
(consumers, farmers, workers, the food industry, distributive trades, etc.) expressed 
unanimous views on the matter. The reasons given as to why technical barriers should not be 
lifted are (a) the insufficient number of staff available at the Commission, and (b) the need to 
concentrate on more important problems and avoid going to extremes. 
4. Nor does the Section understand the criteria used by the Commission in deciding on the 
necessary dimensions of hens' cages, since no scientific argument had been provided as to the 
optimum number of millimetres needed by a laying hen, or as to whether distortion of 
competition is a real problem. Indeed the Commission's report states that is is impossible for 
the time being, to specify exactly what conditions should apply for keeping laying hens. 
Since at the present time human beings in many Member States are suffering from a housing 
crisis and poor housing conditions, the Section suggests that the Commission alter its priorities 
and work schedule so as to pay more attention to living conditions and housing for people, 
leaving, for the time being, the many details of the construction of cages for laying hens to the 
Member States themselves. 
5. Nonetheless, the report compiled by the Section (CES 979/81 fin.) does set out a number 
of specific comments on the Directive proposed by the Commission.' 
Result of the voting: 
For: overwhelming majority, against: 0, abstentions: 1