WRITTEN QUESTION E-2822/03 by Theresa Villiers (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Welfare of dairy cows.
Date: 2003-09-19
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Food Safety Authority, agronomic research, animal welfare, dairy cow, intensive livestock farming, powers of the institutions (EU), report, research project, standing committee (EU)

C 65 E/224

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

13.3.2004

The UK has a perfectly good system of ID numbers, which are unique to each trailer, which permit the
authorities to trace trailers and their ownership.

Does the Commission regard the imposition of extra registration requirements by Member States on
hauliers who adhere to the registration requirements of their home Member States as a barrier to the free
movement of people and goods within the EU?

If so, what does the Commission intend to do to stop this?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(29 October 2003)

The Commission was not yet aware of the new Dutch law requiring each trailer which is not separately
registered, to obtain a temporary Dutch registration number in order to carry goods/cargo through the
Netherlands. Moreover, it seems, on the basis of the information currently available, that the registration
procedure is not accessible to hauliers established in another Member State.

The Commission needs to examine this new law more closely in order to check its compatibility with the
principles of free movement of goods and transport services. If necessary, the Commission may start
infringement proceedings against the Netherlands in order to remove any unjustified obstacles to the free
movement of goods and transport services, which could result from this new law.

The Commission will
matter.

inform the Honourable Member of any further important development in this

(2004/C 65 E/239)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2822/03

by Theresa Villiers (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(19 September 2003)

Subject: Welfare of dairy cows

Modern dairy cows have been bred to produce extremely high milk yields. This leads to cows suffering
from a range of serious health and welfare problems including: metabolic hunger as they find it difficult to
consume sufficient food to support the high milk yields; digestive disorders; an increased incidence of
lameness; and lethal production diseases. After around four or less years of production the cows are often
chronically exhausted and suffer severe loss of body condition and are culled.

Will the Commission request the European Food Safety Authority to ask the Standing Committee on the
Food Chain and Animal Health to prepare a report on the health and welfare of dairy cows?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(22 October 2003)

The Honourable Member will be aware that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was established by
Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the
general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and
laying down procedures in matters of food safety (1) as an independent scientific point of reference from
which the Commission may request scientific opinions. A Scientific Committee and various scientific
Panels, including a Panel on Animal Health and Welfare, have been established by EFSA to provide these
scientific opinions.

13.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 65 E/225

The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health is a regulatory committee consisting of
representatives of
the Member States and chaired by a Commission representative that advises on
implementing legislative rules.

It should be noted that the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare adopted in 1999 a
report on animal welfare aspects of the use of bovine somatotrophin, which contained a specific chapter
describing welfare problems in high yielding dairy cows. A number of research projects funded under the
Community’s Fifth Framework Programme on Research and Technological Development have also
addressed the issue of the health and welfare of dairy cows. Specifically, the Commission currently
supports research on lameness in dairy cattle and on nutrition of dairy cattle through the better utilisation
of pasture. It also supports projects on the genetics of mastitis and milk production. Research of a more
generic welfare nature, such as on cattle transport, also has important implications for dairy cattle.

(1) OJ L 31, 1.2.2002.

(2004/C 65 E/240)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2825/03

by Nelly Maes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(23 September 2003)

Subject: Linguistic diversity

The Action Plan for 2004-2006 promoting language learning and linguistic diversity makes repeated
reference to the learning of ‘regional’ and ‘minority’
languages as well as of the more widely spoken
languages. It states that national and regional authorities are encouraged to give special attention to
supporting language communities whose number of native speakers is in decline from generation to
generation. After all, these languages also form part of the European cultural heritage.

Should the protection of these languages be left up to the goodwill of Member States?

Does the EU itself not have to take an active role in supporting teacher training activities and schools that
take on this task?

What instruments are available to the EU to encourage Member States to take action if they are currently
failing to support this part of our cultural heritage?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(23 October 2003)

The Commission shares the Honourable Member’s view that regional and minority languages are part of
Europe’s cultural heritage.

in the field of culture,

However,
it intervenes within the scope of the powers granted to it under
Article 151 of the EC Treaty, which states that ‘Action by the Community shall be aimed at encouraging
if necessary, supporting and supplementing their action …’.
cooperation between Member States and,
Under the subsidiarity principle, responsibility for protecting regional and minority languages is a matter
for Member States.

Under Article 149 of the EC Treaty, the Community contributes to the development of quality education
by encouraging cooperation between Member States and supporting and complementing their action. This
includes ‘developing the European dimension in education, particularly through the teaching and
dissemination of the languages of the Member States’. Educational establishments teaching a regional or
minority language can take part
in the Socrates/Comenius programme in the same way as other
educational establishments. The teaching of these languages can also form the subject of cooperation