The UK was one of the strongest advocates of animal welfare measures and its voice is no longer heard in the EU, changing the political calculus.
The EU is considering scrapping plans to impose regulations
designed to improve animal welfare in the farming industry over concerns about
the impact it could have on food inflation, according to senior officials.
The European Commission had promised to act after public
pressure to stop practices such as the use of cages for livestock, the killing
of day-old chicks, and the sale and production of fur. But concerns that the
proposed changes could add to food costs, which rose sharply after Russia
invaded Ukraine last year, have led Brussels to reconsider the plans.
Three EU officials with knowledge of the matter told the Financial Times that the Commission had
dropped the proposals completely — along with a sustainable food law designed
to boost green food production across the bloc. But another official said it
was reviewing the animal welfare plan and would propose a scaled-back version. This sounds like a trial balloon to judge
reactions.
“Some in the commission are worried about the cost,” said
Joe Moran, director of European policy for Four Paws, an animal welfare
campaign group. The legislation is among the few remaining parts of the EU’s
Green Deal climate package, laid out in 2019 to pivot the bloc to a more
sustainable economy. But ahead of EU-wide elections in 2024, conservative
politicians have pushed back against the environmental regulations.
Typically, the reaction of farm organisations is to call for
more subsidies. Pekka Pesonen,
secretary-general of Copa-Cogeca, the EU farmer’s group, told the FT it could
support many of the changes as long as they received financial aid to implement
them, and if imported meat was subject to the same standards. That would in
effect ban many imports from trading partners such as Brazil, Ukraine and
Thailand. Such a measure would also be opposed by trade commissioner Valdis
Dombrovskis.
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