(18th June 2012)

EU Council conclusions on animal welfare approved today: the EU institutions vote against animal welfare and ignore EU citizens. EU Commissioner in charge of animal welfare betrays the animals.
Whitewash on long-distance live transport. Over 1,100,000 signatures are not even worth a mention – a warning for the e.c.i.s?
European animal welfare NGOs launch new actions. Animal welfare and democracy are both ignored.

This morning in Luxembourg, the Council of EU Ministers of Agriculture adopted its conclusions ‘on the protection and welfare of animals’.
This long-awaited document was – among other things – supposed to respond to the call of over 1,100,000 citizens who signed the 8hours petition, and of the majority of the European Parliament , to review the present EU Regulation 1/2005 on long-distance animal transport.

The 8hours campaign was launched jointly by Animals’ Angels – an international organisation which has documented hundreds of cases of severe suffering endured by animals transported on long-distance journeys – together with Danish MEP Dan Jørgensen.
The aim of the initiative, supported by more than 100 European animal welfare organisations, is to limit the transport of animals for the purpose of slaughter to no longer than 8 hours.

Millions of animals are still transported over long distances on European roads, only to be killed on arrival. This additional suffering can be easily avoided by killing the animals in the nearest slaughterhouse to the farm, and then transporting their meat and carcasses.

On 7 June, representatives of animal welfare NGOs from all over Europe and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) handed in 1,103,248 signatures to Commissioner for Health and Consumers John Dalli, who in front of the cameras announced that ‘by 2014 the Commission will publish a legislative proposal’, which would include live transport and transport times. On the same occasion, the Commissioner admitted that ‘some species of animals require a much lower figure than 8 hours’.
Just a few days after those public statements, he denied that he had ever said such things. The footage of that interview is now on the 8hours website www.8hours.eu and thousands of citizens are writing to the Commissioner to protest.

In its conclusions, the Council today remembers that animal welfare should be taken seriously into account according to the Treaty , but then falls short of acting according to that mandate. On the issue of transport:
- Although the Council states that new scientific knowledge is available, it ignores the indication of Regulation 1/2005 that this should lead to a review of the Regulation itself;
- The Council acknowledges the adoption by the European Parliament of Written Declaration 49/2011, but does not even mention the petition signed by over 1,100,000 citizens;
- The Council admits that some parts of Regulation 1/2005 are not working, but simply asks for their enforcement again. Some of those rules have existed for over 20 years – since the 1991 Directive – and have never been implemented!
- To respond to the existing problems, instead of a review of the Regulation, the Council suggests the adoption of ‘guides to good practice’, without explaining why a non-binding instrument should be more effective than laws that are constantly ignored.
The Council then invites the Commission to generically ‘take account of existing and emerging scientific evidence concerning the welfare of animals during transport and of technological progress when in the future considering additional actions and possible future amendments to the Transport Regulation’, but without establishing any deadline or ways to verify the implementation of such advice, basically making fine-sounding pronouncements with no real effect.

The Council also ‘recalls that the recital of the Transport Regulation states that for reasons of animal welfare the transport of animals over long journeys, including animals for slaughter, should be limited as far as possible’, but pretends to forget that this should have been one of the effects of the existing Regulation, which clearly has not had that effect. Again, the mandate on animal welfare given by the Treaty is translated into empty words, not action.

“We consider this behaviour of Commissioner Dalli and of the Council appalling,” said Christa Blanke, Founder and President of Animals’ Angels. “Not only animal suffering, but also the will of European citizens is forgotten when even minor financial interests have to be protected. This is shameful. In these days when the first European Citizens’ Initiatives have just been launched, is this the Council’s and Commission’s way to tell people not to waste time asking for legislative change, even on issues where so much evidence is available, because their voice will not be heard?”

“The 8hours campaign is now at a turning point,” added Christa Blanke. “We’ll continue to ask Commissioner Dalli how he could change his mind so quickly, and how he thinks he can continue to be a European Commissioner acting against his mandate and against the citizens he is supposed to represent. We are also going to develop actions throughout Europe to give voice to animals and citizens, until Regulation 1/2005 is changed. In the coming hours we will also analyse the available legal possibilities to oblige Commission and Council to act according to Article 13 of the Treaty, not just pay lip service to it”.

CLICK HERE TO SEND A LETTER TO COMMISSIONER DALLI

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Notes:

The main piece of European legislation currently regulating live animal transport is EC Regulation 1/2005. This allows horses, other equines and pigs to be transported for 24 hours, then have a 24-hour rest period and then start again; cattle, sheep and goats can be transported for 14 hours, then a 1-hour rest, then transported for a further 14 hours, then a 24-hour rest and then start again; unweaned calves, lambs, foals and piglets can be transported for 9 hours, then a 1-hour rest, then transported for 9 hours, then a 24-hour rest and then start again. These cycles can be repeated indefinitely.

The new publication ‘8 hours is more than enough!’ is available for downloading on the 8hours website: www.8hours.eu. Printed copies are available on request.

Videos and photos of investigations on live animal transport are available for media purposes.

Further information about this campaign is available on the www.8hours.eu website and on the Animals’ Angels website: www.animals-angels.org.
The text of Written Declaration 49/2011 is available in all EU languages on request.

For interviews with Christa Blanke, Founder and Director of Animals’ Angels, please contact Adolfo Sansolini, Coordinator of the 8hours Campaign: +44 7983 586 295