6.9.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 342/55 Wednesday 16 February 2022
expectations regarding the welfare of farm animals and systemic research findings, together with work on the species-specific directives, taking due account of the nature of livestock farming, the various stages of the animals’ lives, on-farm practices that do not relate to livestock farming, traditions and regional conditions, and the diversity of soil and weather conditions;
37.
Notes that the current EU legislation on animal welfare is not comprehensive and invites the Commission to assess the need for and impact of specific animal welfare legislation in the light of the latest scientific knowledge for food-producing species that are not covered by species-specific legislation at present; takes note of the lack of animal-based welfare indicators for the General Directive and Council Directives 2008/120/EC on pigs, 2007/43/EC on chickens, and 1999/74/EC on laying hens; acknowledges, moreover, the lack of quantifiable requirements for the implementation and monitoring of environmental conditions such as air quality (nitrogen, CO2, dust), lighting (duration, brightness) and minimal noise, which not only affects animal welfare but also distorts competition because of the margin for interpretation; calls on the Commission to set up enforceable and quantifiable such indicators, which should be species-specific and up to date from a scientific point of view;
38.
Urges the Commission to clarify its framework for monitoring Member States and to ensure that detrimental practices are tackled and to begin infringement proceedings for non-compliance; emphasises the importance of precision livestock farming technologies, including the potential of on-farm animal health and welfare monitoring tools, which help to prevent and better control disease outbreaks on farms; underlines that there are many factors behind the rate of non-compliance with animal welfare legislation, including unenforceable and unquantifiable animal-based indicators; notes that the frequency of inspections across the Member States ranges from a minimum of 1 % to a maximum of 30 %; is concerned that this large variation in the frequency of inspections either means non-compliance with the Control Regulation (19) or entails considerable pressure for farmers; calls on the Commission and the Member States, therefore, to harmonise the implementation of the Control Regulation to align the frequency of inspections between Member States and livestock sectors; calls on the Commission to report to Parliament every year on its actions and the actions of the Member States to improve the welfare of animals kept on farms in the EU;
39.
Asks the Commission to accompany any decision with a scientific and impact assessment (including the environmental, economic and social impacts), which should take into account the diversity of farming methods in each sector in the EU and analyse the situation from the perspective of both the animal (species by species and at different stages of production) and the farmer, with a view to considering citizens’ expectations and creating a system of effective breeding to ensure that animals live in favourable conditions, animal welfare is respected and farmers are economically profitable;
40.
Stresses that Member States should provide for appropriate enforcement regimes, which could be harmonised between Member States, and that Member States must at all times ensure the strict enforcement of EU legislation; calls on the Commission to submit regular reports to Parliament on the implementation and enforcement of EU animal welfare legislation, which should identify gaps and include a breakdown of infringements by Member State, species and type of infringement;
41.
Calls on the Commission to improve cooperation between all the stakeholders concerned and to facilitate dialogue between the various stakeholders in the Member States so as to enable joint consideration of developments in livestock farming systems; encourages the sharing of ‘good’ practices between livestock farming sectors and countries; wishes to see the development of tools to encourage pioneering livestock farmers to participate in development projects; asks for livestock farmers and animal welfare scientists to be involved at all stages of the studies carried out in Europe’s various regions; wishes to see the study documents and documents for disseminating good practice translated into all the languages of the European Union; recognises the potential of the Horizon Europe programme for research and innovation and expects an appropriate balance across the Member States in terms of projects; encourages the Commission to promote an output-oriented approach, as a proper environment to gather Member States’ representatives, scientific bodies, stakeholders, farmers and NGOs and exchange views and best practices with a view to ensuring a more uniform implementation of the future animal welfare legislation across the Member States in line with the objectives of the Green Deal;
(19)
Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2017 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products (OJ L 95, 7.4.2017, p. 1).