EU takes action on non-compliant countries

Published 27/02/2013

Having played a key role in the UK's ban on sow stalls, Compassion welcomes the Commission taking firm action against those countries who continue to flout the ban.

Despite having had since 2001 to reach compliance and repeated calls from the Commission, some EU member states still continue to disregard current legislation which protects minimum sow welfare standards.

Last week, the European Commission issued formal notices to Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Poland and Portugal. These countries have two months to respond.

Sow stalls restrict the movement and natural behaviours of pigs; these stalls are so narrow that a sow cannot even turn around.

Compassion and our supporters have sent over a million messages to key stakeholders across the EU. As a result of this, eight out of 17 EU countries thought to be at risk of breaching the legislation prior to it becoming enforceable at the beginning of the year have been reported as now meeting the required standards.

Philip Lymbery, CEO of Compassion in World Farming, says: "Whilst there has been some positive news regarding increased compliance across the EU, we take this information with a pinch of salt. Our past experience with the barren battery cage ban suggests that illegal practices could be discovered in countries believed to be compliant, so we must keep up the fight right across Europe."

Compassion in World Farming will continue to campaign to help get pigs out of cages until all 27 EU states have ended the illegal use of sow stalls.