Prohibiting chick and duckling killing in EU law

10.3.2023

Question for oral answer  O-000014/2023
to the Commission
Rule 136
Sirpa Pietikäinen (PPE), Günther Sidl (S&D), Thomas Waitz (Verts/ALE), Andreas Schieder (S&D), Pascal Arimont (PPE), Emil Radev (PPE), Ivan Vilibor Sinčić (NI), Michaela Šojdrová (PPE), Markéta Gregorová (Verts/ALE), Margrete Auken (Verts/ALE), Marcel Kolaja (Verts/ALE), Niels Fuglsang (S&D), Kira Marie Peter-Hansen (Verts/ALE), Henna Virkkunen (PPE), Heidi Hautala (Verts/ALE), Raphaël Glucksmann (S&D), Benoît Biteau (Verts/ALE), Mounir Satouri (Verts/ALE), Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (Verts/ALE), Manon Aubry (The Left), Aurélia Beigneux (ID), Sylvie Guillaume (S&D), Pierre Larrouturou (S&D), Pascal Durand (S&D), Nora Mebarek (S&D), Marina Mesure (The Left), Marie Toussaint (Verts/ALE), Eric Andrieu (S&D), Damien Carême (Verts/ALE), Anne-Sophie Pelletier (The Left), Tiemo Wölken (S&D), Martin Buschmann (NI), Marion Walsmann (PPE), Maria Noichl (S&D), Manuela Ripa (Verts/ALE), Stelios Kouloglou (The Left), Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou (PPE), Mick Wallace (The Left), Grace O'Sullivan (Verts/ALE), Frances Fitzgerald (PPE), Clare Daly (The Left), Ciarán Cuffe (Verts/ALE), Mario Furore (NI), Laura Ferrara (NI), Anna Bonfrisco (ID), Petras Auštrevičius (Renew), Tilly Metz (Verts/ALE), Robert Biedroń (S&D), Sylwia Spurek (Verts/ALE), Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska (PPE), Andrzej Halicki (PPE), Francisco Guerreiro (Verts/ALE), Isabel Carvalhais (S&D), Dacian Cioloş (Renew), Martin Hojsík (Renew), Michal Wiezik (Renew), Malin Björk (The Left), Helmut Geuking (PPE), Alviina Alametsä (Verts/ALE), Anja Hazekamp (The Left), Matjaž Nemec (S&D)

It is estimated that 330 million day-old chicks and millions of day-old female ducklings are killed every year in the EU by the egg and foie gras industries, by grinding or gassing. This routine practice causes substantial suffering and also goes against Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which recognises animals as sentient beings.

Furthermore, European citizens have unequivocally expressed their concern for animal welfare, with 82 % considering that farmed animals should be better protected.

Recent developments in in-ovo sexing technologies have made it possible to determine the sex of an embryo well before it hatches, at a limited cost. For this reason, some Member States, such as France and Germany, have prohibited the killing of male chicks. However, these bans create market distortions, and the derogations they sometimes contain undermine their effectiveness.

• 1.Given this very clear demand by European citizens, will the Commission include a ban on killing day-old chicks in the egg sector in its proposal for new regulations on the welfare of farmed animals?
• 2.If so, will the ban also apply to the killing of day-old female ducklings by the foie gras industry?

Submitted: 10.3.2023

Lapses: 11.6.2023