WRITTEN QUESTION E-2884/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(14 October 2002)

Subject: Lack of adequate enforcement of rules protecting the welfare of farm animals during transport

1. Is the Commission aware that in a report, which appeared in European Voice of 19 September 2002, Commission's animal welfare spokeswoman Beate Gminder was quoted as saying that the Commission would take infringement action against Member States which did not adequately enforce rules protecting the welfare of farm animals during transport?

2. Does the Commission agree that findings reported in the article referred to above demonstrate that unacceptable breaches of the law have occurred and continue to occur, for example in the failure to respect statutory rest periods for animals undertaking long journeys and in the failure to provide access to drinking water?

3. Does the Commission dispute or accept the findings of the Eurogroup for Animal Welfare to the effect that the incidents recorded in the article are not isolated abuses but part of a widespread pattern of inflicting unnecessary suffering?

4. Does the Commission now plan to take infringement proceedings, or to conduct further investigations which may lead to such proceedings? If not, what alternative course of action does it propose to ensure that the law is respected and that animals are not forced to suffer unnecessarily?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(20 November 2002)

1. The Commission has seen the newspaper report referred to by the Honourable Member. The Commission has, however, not received any complaint from the animal protection societies mentioned or any other person or body concerning this incident. The published report neglects to provide details such as the date of the incident, the identity of the transporter or the place where the pigs were discovered to be dead and is itself, therefore, not an adequate basis for further action by the Commission.

2. and 3. Member States are responsible for the day-to-day enforcement of Community legislation governing the protection of transported animals. Inadequate enforcement by Member States can lead to incidents of the type to which the Honourable Member has referred.

4. The Commission always investigates well founded complaints in relation to Community animal welfare legislation and normally intervenes with the Member State(s) concerned, notably seeking assurances that adequate action will be taken against those transporters who are in default of their obligations and to prevent reoccurrence of similar incidents.

The Commission is prepared to initiate infringement proceedings under Article 226 of the EC Treaty in appropriate cases of non-compliance by Member States with their Community law obligations in this domain. It has indeed already done so on several occasions.

However, systematic resort to infringement proceeding is not necessarily the best way forward owing to the lengthy delays involved and because evidence of individual failures is not always conclusive of the general situation in a Member State. Consequently an infringement procedure based on an isolated incident or incidents may be difficult to prove as a generalised failure of a Member State, particularly where a Member State claims to have taken action to remedy the situation.

It should be mentioned that the Commission's Food and Veterinary Office organises periodic inspection missions with regard to Community animal welfare legislation and notably the implementation of the transport rules in Member States. Where these missions find deficiencies these are made the subject of recommendations to the Member States concerned and compliance is subsequently monitored.

In conclusion it must also be recognised that in practice Council Directive 91/628/EEC of 19 November 1991 relating to the protection of animals during transport(1) as amended by Directive 95/29/EC of 29 June 1995(2) has given rise to serious problems of interpretation, which have resulted in enforcement difficulties. In consequence, the Commission intends to submit a proposal for revised legislation on this subject as soon as possible and with a view to avoid the enforcement difficulties which have been experienced with the present Directive.

(1) OJ L 340, 11.12.1991.

(2) OJ L 148, 30.6.1995.