Commission flyer on animal welfare and the terms it uses
3.10.2013
Question for written answer E-011265-13
to the Commission
Rule 117
Jörg Leichtfried (S&D)
A Commission flyer on topical issues relating to animal welfare[1] states: ‘(…) The EU Lisbon Treaty recognised animals as “sentient beings” and as a result the welfare of farm animals became valued in the European Union. (…)’
However, Article 13 of the Treaty (TFEU) defines all animals as sentient beings, not just farm animals, as this is not a legal concept, but an ethical one.
Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes[2] even states in the preamble that animal welfare is a value of the Union that is enshrined in Article 13 TFEU. This also indicates that Article 13 is not just limited to farm animals, but includes all animals.
Can the Commission explain its reasons and the legal basis for restricting the scope of Article 13 to farm animals, as it has done in the aforementioned flyer?
- [1] Milestones in improving Animal Welfare, EU Commission http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/information_sources/docs/ahw/milestones_aw_en.pdf
- [2] Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2010 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, Recital 2. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:276:0033:0079:en:PDF
OJ C 208, 03/07/2014