REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the delegation conferred on the Commission pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 576/2013 on the non-commercial movement of pet animals
Date: 2017-10-31
Institutions: Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission
Subjects: animal disease, delegation of power, domestic animal, health certificate, transport of animals, veterinary inspection

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 31.10.2017  COM(2017) 630 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the delegation conferred on the Commission pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 576/2013 on the non-commercial movement of pet animals  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

on the exercise of the delegation conferred on the Commission pursuant to Regulation 
(EU) No 576/2013 on the non-commercial movement of pet animals 

1.  Introduction and legal basis 

Article  39(2)  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  576/2013  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council1  (hereinafter  'the  Pet  Regulation')  requires  the  Commission  to  present  to  the 
European  Parliament  and  to  the  Council  a  report  on  the  exercise  of  the  delegation 
conferred  on  the  Commission  by  that  Regulation.  The  report  is  to  be  drawn  up  not  later 
than nine months before the end of the five-year period of the delegation, running from 28 
June  2013.  The  delegation  of  power  is  to  be  tacitly  extended  for  periods  of  an  identical 
duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later 
than three months before the end of each period. 

2.  Exercise of the delegation 

Article 39(2) of the Pet Regulation applies to the power to adopt delegated acts conferred 
on  the  Commission  by  Article  5(5),  the  second  subparagraph  of  Article  17(2),  the  first 
subparagraph of Article 19(1) and Article 38 of that Regulation. 

More specifically: 

(a)  Article  5(5)  of  the  Pet  Regulation  empowers  the  Commission  to  lay  down  rules 
setting the maximum number of pet animals of the species listed in Part B of Annex I 
that  may  accompany  the  owner  or  an  authorised  person  during  a  single  non-
commercial movement in order to prevent commercial movement of pet animals of 
those species from being fraudulently disguised as non-commercial. In this respect, 
further experience on the practical application of the new rules needs to be gathered 
before proceeding with the preparation of a delegated act in relation to the number of 
pet animals of Part B species. 

(b)  The  second  subparagraph  of  Article  17(2)  of  the  Pet  Regulation  empowers  the 
Commission to establish species-specific requirements for marking or describing pet 
animals of the species listed in Part B of Annex I, taking into account any relevant 
national  requirements.  Although  no  need  to  lay  down  such  requirements  in  a 
delegated  act  is  deemed  to  have  arisen  at  this  point  in  time,  the  Commission  is 
prepared to proceed with the preparation of a delegated act in relation to the marking 
or  description of pet animals of Part B species in  accordance  with that provision if 
warranted  by  scientific  or  technical  progress  or  experience  gained  on  the  practical 
application of the Pet Regulation. 

(c)  Article  19(1)  of  the  Pet  Regulation  empowers  the  Commission  to  adopt  preventive 
health measures to control diseases or infections other than rabies that are likely to be 
spread due to the movement of pet animals. On the basis of this empowerment, the 
Commission has prepared a draft Commission Delegated Regulation supplementing 

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Regulation (EU) No 576/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 June 2013 on the non-commercial movement of 
pet animals and repealing Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 (OJ L 178, 28.6.2013, p. 1). 

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Regulation (EU) No 576/2013  of the European Parliament and of the Council  with 
regard to preventive health measures for the control of Echinococcus multilocularis 
infection in dogs, and repealing Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1152/2011. In view 
of its adoption by the Commission and notification to the European Parliament and 
the Council in accordance with Article 39(4) of the Pet Regulation, the draft has been 
open  for feedback  from  8 September to  6 October 2017 at  the Public consultations 
section of the Commission website2. 

(d)  Article 38 of the Pet Regulation empowers the Commission to amend Annexes II to 
IV to that Regulation and thus to establish further details on various technical aspects 
covered by those Annexes in order to take into account technical progress, scientific 
developments and the protection of public health or the health of pet animals. Since 
the  Regulation  has  only  become  applicable  since  29  December  2014,  further 
experience on the practical application of the new rules needs to be gathered before 
deciding on the appropriate use of this delegated power. 

3.  Conclusion 

The Pet Regulation has applied for a period of just over two and a half years.  

So  far,  the  Commission  has  prepared  and  launched  a  public  consultation  on  a  draft 
delegated act on preventive health measures for the control of Echinococcus multilocularis 
infection in dogs on the basis of the empowerment conferred on it by the first subparagraph 
of Article 19(1) of that Regulation.  

The Commission has currently no plan to proceed with the preparation of a delegated act in 
relation to any of the delegated powers referred to in Article 5(5), the second subparagraph 
of Article 17(2) or Article 38 of the Pet Regulation. 

The Commission is of the view that the delegated powers conferred by the Pet Regulation 
should  remain  in  force  due  to  the  need  to  gather  more  experience  on  the  practical 
application  of  the  Regulation,  to  be  able  to  respond  to  new  or  emerging  health  threats 
related  to  the  movement  of  pet  animals  and  to  adapt  to  technical  progress  and  scientific 
developments. 

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https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/initiatives/ares-2017-4396495_en#initiative-details  

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