Debate: European Citizens’ Initiative ‘End the cage age’’
Date: THURSDAY, 10 JUNE 2021
Speaker: Stella Kyriakides
Language: EN

Our citizens care about animal welfare. The question for us, therefore, is not whether its aims should be addressed, but rather on how the EU should respond to achieve a phasing out of cages for certain animal species. The draft resolution you are due to vote on today listens to the concerns of our citizens and shows the path to a transition to cage-free farming as soon as feasible.  Our rules need to change and that is a very clear call from our citizens. During the hearing, the organisers of the citizens’ initiative also called for measures to accompany the phasing out of cages, such as financial support for farmers in respect to the transition they will go through, and an application of the same standards for imported products. The Commission is looking at these requests, taking into account the need for a science-based approach and the EU’s obligation under the WTO. Of course, the Commission’s commitment to improve welfare of animals is nothing new, and it does stretch back decades. I said that during the hearing in April. It does remain a moral, a health and an economic imperative, and for me it is a personal commitment to strive for change. Our promise under the Farm-to-fork strategy to undertake a thorough review of existing EU animal welfare legislation will be delivered into action. Work on this has already started. Even if the EU has truly done a lot in the area of animal welfare, there’s no doubt that more needs to be done and can be done and we are determined to join forces with you towards this direction.  We have completed the evaluation of our 2012-2015 animal welfare strategy. The findings are now available online. They reveal an overall improvement in animal welfare across the EU in recent years. We have come a long way since the first EU legislation of animal welfare in the 1970s. Equally, the evaluation points to areas where we could perform better, including simplifying the legislative framework. In addition, the fitness check of existing EU animal welfare legislation is underway and the Commission will be reporting back on this at the end of this year.  So your views in today’s debate, the resolution we are discussing and the follow-up we will give to this initiative later this month will be valuable inputs when we review legislation and decide on future action.  Independent scientific research and an analysis of the social and economic impact will be our compass when developing legislation and addressing citizens’ concerns. It’s clear that in this endeavour we need measures that will mitigate the impact on farmers when they need to make structural adaptations to the way they produce, and at the same time we acknowledge the need for sustainable food systems, the ethical dimensions around farming animals and the need to find solutions that involve farmers but society at large.  In your resolution, you have highlighted the need for a more comprehensive food policy and well-functioning supply chain where all steps in the chain take their responsibility for more sustainability. It is what set in motion the Farm-to-fork strategy and the actions we are discussing today in the area of animal welfare are very important building blocks in our sustainable food policy.  So in ending, honourable Members, I’m waiting to hear with great interest the issues you raised which will feed into our work. Acting to improve the welfare of animals is an ethical, social and economic imperative. We should listen to our citizens’ voices and make this transition towards a sustainable approach as smooth as possible. This is European democracy in action at its best, and as such it deserves our support and our attention.