Prosecution of infringements of the Transport Regulation on the protection of animals during transport and related operations
30.4.2025
Question for written answer E-001752/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Marianne Vind (S&D)
Article 25 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 requires Member States to lay down and enforce effective penalties for infringements of the rules on the protection of animals during transport. For long journeys, a journey log must be drawn up and submitted to the authority of the country of departure within one month after the journey concerned has been completed[1]. Logs identify infringements in particular. However, the regulation does not specify how authorities should act in the event of infringements outside their jurisdiction. Article 28 only stipulates that notification must be given to authorities that gave authorisation to the transport operators concerned, but not, for example, to authorities in transit countries.
Documents provided by Animal Protection Denmark show that cases involving foreign firms are usually dropped, either because Denmark does not have jurisdiction or because of a lack of proportionality between resources and the expected penalty. The information available suggests that there are similar practices in other Member States.
In the light of the above:
- 1.Does the Commission have an overview of Member States' prosecutions in these cases, and does the Commission regard it as compatible with EU law[2]for Member States not to prosecute in such situations?
- 2.How should Member States fulfil their obligations under EU law in this respect?
- 3.Does the Commission intend to bring infringement proceedings against Member States that fail to prosecute, or what measures is the Commission considering introducing in the forthcoming revision of the Transport Regulation so as to ensure that infringements established on the basis of return journey logs are prosecuted regardless of where they are committed and of where transport operators are based?
Submitted: 30.4.2025