Our work in Europe

Compassion in World Farming has offices in France, the Netherlands and the UK. In addition, the European Network for Farm Animal Protection (ENFAP) has been formed to address farm animal welfare issues across Europe. ENFAP consists of groups from across the EU which share similar values and wish to see the same improvements in farm animal welfare.

ENFAP (formerly ECFA - European Coalition for Farm Animals) was first founded in 1993 in the light of an anticipated review of the EU battery cage legislation and brought together groups from 13 EU countries.

As the EU has grown with the accession of new states, so new groups from Eastern Europe began to join. ENFAP now comprises groups from 25 countries.

Now, with the battery cage ban under threat from the egg industry and some EU governments, ENFAP will be concentrating on this issue throughout 2011 to ensure that the ban is implemented in full, in all countries of the EU, on time on 1 January 2012.

Campaigning across Europe, we have been instrumental in achieving some of the most significant EU legislative protection for farm animals, including:

• The Lisbon Treaty came into force on December 1st 2009, and includes animal sentience as an Article in the main body of the Treaty. We will use this enhanced recognition of animal sentience to strengthen our negotiations with governments and policy-makers and in monitoring enforcement of the laws that are already in place. For example, the requirement for ‘full regard’ to be paid to the welfare requirements of animals is a crucial one, as sadly modern farming systems all too often fall short of this;
• The ‘Amsterdam Treaty’ recognised the concept of animal sentience and enshrined it as a principle (1997). This means that in EU law, farm animals are recognised as sentient beings. This paved the way for welfare legislation;
• The EU bans veal crates for calves (1997);
• An EU ban on battery cages from 2012 (agreed in 1999);
• The EU agrees to phase-out sow stalls, ban the tail docking of pigs and introduces the requirement for environmental enrichment for pigs (2001). The ban on tail docking and requirement for enrichment has been in force since 2003. The sow stall ban comes into force in 2013.

To read more, please visit ENFAP.eu (external site for ENFAP member organisations).