Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-07-02-Speech-1-204-000"
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"en.20120702.23.1-204-000"2
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"Madam President, I am pleased to see that many events and discussions have taken place this year in the European Parliament, in the Council and elsewhere, in the light of the Commission’s communication which introduced the EU Animal Welfare Strategy.
In Council on 18 June 2012, I stated that we have proposed a broad array of legislative and non-legislative actions to improve the welfare of animals during transport substantially. I have to admit that I have particular sympathy for the situation of animals travelling excessively long journey times to slaughter. As I announced at that Council meeting, I am ready to examine all data that could shed light on this issue. We must also look into the proposals in the Animal Welfare Strategy which, I believe, contains several actions that have the potential to improve the welfare of animals during transport substantially.
I would like to comment on a couple of other points. First of all, on the incomprehension in Hungary over the issue of cages for laying hens, I must say that the directive in question was enacted 12 years ago. The prescribed transition period ended at the end of last year and, while some countries had a shorter time to prepare and change, one has to consider that all these countries, including my own country, negotiated about this directive during their accession negotiations. Therefore, everyone knew exactly what the timeframe and the commitments were.
On cloning, I have also gone on record many times to say that the Commission is currently undertaking an in-depth impact assessment of the cloning issue, and I will be coming before this Parliament and the Council with a proposal on a stand-alone directive on cloning.
To conclude, may I once again thank Parliament and, in particular, Ms Paulsen and her team, for this valuable report. I look forward to Parliament and the Commission making further progress together as the strategy unfolds.
The strategy proposes a new approach to the future of animal welfare in Europe. After nearly 40 years of legislation, there is still room for improvement in this field, across the EU. The strategy is about better enforcement of EU legislation, better information for consumers, a simplified legislative framework and a focus on education and technical assistance to stakeholders at grassroots level. Before addressing specific issues, let me first express my appreciation for the excellent work of the rapporteur, Ms Paulsen, who has produced a balanced report on this complex and highly sensitive area.
I am glad to note that Parliament supports the Commission’s view on the key elements of the strategy: proposing a simplified framework law that, while taking into due account specificities of particular species and sectors, covers all animals kept in the context of an economic activity; considering a European network of reference centres for animal welfare to ensure that competent authorities receive uniform technical information on the way that EU legislation should be implemented and to disseminate expertise, research findings and technical innovation; developing animal welfare indicators in the framework law to optimise animal welfare outcomes – and I am aware that there are remaining issues of practicability to be considered here; and introducing legal milestones to help ensure that Member States implement new legislation properly. In addition, the report emphasises the need to ensure better enforcement of existing legislation – something that is also of central concern to the Commission.
I share the views expressed in Ms Paulsen’s report on the importance of supporting and optimising international cooperation in the multilateral arena, especially the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) – as well as in bilateral negotiations, by including animal welfare in negotiations with third countries – and on promoting EU views and understanding on welfare standards. This is all the more important because food production has, in the meantime, become a global activity with a possible influence
on competitiveness.
There are, however, some elements of this report on which the Commission has not formed a definitive position, and on which more reflection is needed before any action is proposed. For example, the report suggests that the Commission should consider developing a coherent EU-wide labelling scheme for producers, which would go beyond the current legislation on labelling. I, too, would like EU producers who wish to improve the welfare of animals beyond minimum standards to receive a better price. However, we need to consider all options carefully, and indeed to ask whether a legislative approach would be the most appropriate.
The report also calls for mandatory animal welfare measures in the framework of rural development programmes. As honourable Members will know, the revision of the regulation on rural development programmes is part of the revision of the CAP. This idea would therefore be best explored within the context of CAP reform discussions. I do, however, share the view expressed in the report about improving coherence in our overall approach. Animal welfare is a cross-cutting issue on which a range of other policies have an impact. I therefore consider this to be a very sound and useful suggestion.
Let me turn to the welfare of pet animals. The Commission has agreed to make a series of studies, including one on this specific issue in the context of the strategy. On the basis of the results of this exercise, we will consider how best to proceed.
Allow me to address one issue relating to animal transport, which ties into the important discussion on animal welfare. Some weeks ago, I had the pleasure and the honour of receiving a delegation that handed me a petition to legislate for an eight-hour transport limit. I explained that, for various reasons, we are not in a position to agree to this request, although we will be tackling the issue in the context of the revision of the Framework Law on Animal Welfare – which is proposed as part of the Animal Welfare Strategy we are discussing today and which could suggest
new tools to improve the enforcement of animal welfare legislation, including during transport.
I have been consistent in saying that enforcement is key to the issue of animal transport, and in saying that the Commission is not considering proposing any changes to the Animal Transport Regulation."@en1
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