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Ex-Post Evaluation of the EU Legislation: Prospects for Animal Welfare Labelling at EU Level

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Ex-Post Evaluation of the EU Legislation: Prospects for Animal Welfare Labelling at EU Level Animal welfare on the farm – ex-post evaluation of the EU legislation: Prospects for animal welfare labelling at EU level European Implementation Assessment STUDY EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service Author: Ex-Post Evaluation Unit PE 662.643 – June 2021 EN Animal welfare on the farm – ex-post evaluation of EU legislation: Prospects for animal welfare labelling at EU level European implementation assessment The European Union (EU) has a long history of regulating the welfare of farmed animals. Currently, the 'on-farm' aspects of animal welfare (AW) are regulated by five directives adopted by the Council of the EU. The European Parliament is scrutinising the implementation of the EU legislation through a dedicated report (with the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee (AGRI) taking the lead and the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee (ENVI) giving its opinion). This European Implementation Assessment (EIA), aimed at providing evidence in support of the committees' work on the report, shows that the implementation of the EU acquis has been challenging. Based on a large data collection programme, it presents findings on the implementation of the EU legislation against the standard criteria for ex-post evaluation, namely relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and EU added value. The EIA also maps and assesses AW labelling systems operating across the EU in terms of their design (including their scientific substantiation), regulatory status and functioning (including their effectiveness, efficiency and transparency). Furthermore, the paper analyses the prospects for a possible introduction of AW labelling at EU level. EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service AUTHOR(S) 1. The section introducing the research project in terms of context, scope, methodology and added value has been drawn up by Ekaterina Karamfilova from the Ex-post Evaluation Unit of the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value, within the Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services (EPRS) of the Secretariat of the European Parliament. To contact the authors, please email: [email protected]. 2. The 'Research Paper: Implementation of EU legislation on 'on-farm' animal welfare. Potential EU added value from the introduction of animal welfare labelling requirements at EU level', which is an integral part of this European Implementation Assessment, has been drawn up by Arcadia International (Francesco Montanari, Julien Étienne, Inês Ferreira, Ana Oliveira, and Filippa Löfström), under the scientific guidance of Prof. Charlotte Berg (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Animal Environment and Health), and with management support from the Austrian Institute for Regional Studies and Spatial Planning (ÖIR) (Erich Dallhammer, Arndt Münch), at the request of the Ex-post Evaluation Unit of the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value, within the Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services (EPRS) of the Secretariat of the European Parliament. ADMINISTRATOR RESPONSIBLE Ekaterina Karamfilova, Ex-post Evaluation Unit, Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value, within the Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services (EPRS) of the Secretariat of the European Parliament To contact the publisher, please e-mail [email protected]. LINGUISTIC VERSIONS Original: EN Manuscript completed in June 2021. DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT This document is prepared for, and addressed to, the Members and staff of the European Parliament as background material to assist them in their parliamentary work. The content of the document is the sole responsibility of its author(s) and any opinions expressed herein should not be taken to represent an official position of the Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the European Parliament is given prior notice and sent a copy. Brussels © European Union, 2021. PE 662.643 ISBN: 978-92-846-8149-5 DOI: 10.2861/23838 CAT: QA-08-21-151-EN-N [email protected] http://www.eprs.ep.parl.union.eu (intranet) http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank (internet) http://epthinktank.eu (blog) Animal welfare on the farm – ex-post evaluation of EU legislation: Prospects for animal welfare labelling at EU level Executive summary This document presents the main findings of the European Implementation Assessment published by the Ex-post Evaluation Unit of the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) in support of an ongoing implementation report by the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) on animal welfare (AW) on the farm, upon which the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) gives an opinion. This research project has been conducted by Arcadia International and the Austrian Institute for Regional Studies and Spatial Planning (ÖIR) between December 2020 and May 2021. Under Research Task 1, which combined primary and secondary data collection, the research team studied the implementation of five EU directives on on-farm AW – one General Directive covering all farmed animal species 1 and four species-specific directives with specific rules covering pigs, calves, broilers and laying hens. 2 The limited timeframe for the research project did not allow for inclusion of all farmed animal species and EU Member States in its scope, therefore, 7 species 3 and 11 Member States 4 were covered. The available evidence was assessed against the standard set of criteria for ex-post evaluation, namely relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and EU added value. Impacts have also been studied. The main findings under Research Task 1 are: On the relevance of the legislation, it was found that, of those stakeholders who felt in a position to comment on whether the legislation was aligned or not with the state of scientific knowledge, most agreed that it was outdated and in need of revision. The legislation is not recent, and several new findings have emerged that establish bases for revision. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has been mandated by the European Commission to issue opinions that will contribute to the review of the legislation in this respect. While a number of stakeholders interviewed (representatives of farmers in particular) considered the current legislation fit for purpose and written in an appropriate manner, most of them (National Competent Authorities (NCAs), non- governmental organisations (NGOs), experts, some industry representatives ) considered the wording of the legislation is often inadequate, being too vague, or providing exceptions or derogations to requirements. As a result, a number of undesirable practices have continued to be allowed. There was a shared sense among many stakeholders that fully specified requirements may not always be feasible, nor desirable, as this could impose excessive burden and rigidity on production sectors that are very diverse. On the effectiveness of the legislation, a mixed picture emerges from the data: some directives have achieved desirable structural changes to the manner animals are reared (the Laying Hens, Pigs (for pregnant sows) and Calves Directives). In contrast, the General Directive and the Broilers Directive have been said to have achieved only small impacts. The Pigs Directive has also failed to achieve some of its objectives, as mutilations and cramped and stressful housing conditions without enrichment remain the norm for pigs in many Member States. With the exception of the Laying Hens and Calves directives, a combination of derogations, exceptions, vague requirements or the absence of specific protections in EU legislation have existed in parallel to various national legislations, all of which have been blamed by many stakeholders from different categories for distorting competition. The evidence on non-compliance, which is limited and of varying quality, points to patterns of non-compliance that are common to some countries and sectors, as well as national and sectoral specificities. The reasons for non-compliance are multifarious. Some of them are common to many Member States. The outlook of a leading north and west and a lagging south and east has begun 1 EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service to evolve, due to greater awareness, political commitment and activism in such countries as Italy, France and Czechia. EU legislation and official controls have more often than not been secondary to other factors when it comes to explaining improvements on the ground. On impacts, the General Directive has generally been the least impactful of the directives in scope. Due to the vague nature of the requirements and the large margins of interpretation it has allowed, links between improvements on the ground and the directive have been impossible to characterise. The absence of species-specific protections for a number of species was seen by most stakeholders as a key problem for dairy cows, broiler and hen breeders, rabbits, sheep and turkeys. The peculiar constraints of each species and of the farmers concerned were highlighted as calling for a specific approach to each species, rather than a common one. The Broilers Directive appears to have been the least impactful of the species-specific directives, in the sense that it did not fundamentally alter production systems, although it incorporated an animal-centred approach to the welfare of broilers and has paved the
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