At a press conference on 7 June, European Commissioner John Dalli declared in front of broadcast media that by 2014 the Commission would introduce a "legislative proposal" that would take a "holistic" approach to animal welfare, including animal transport.

The Commission is the European institution which can propose legislation, that is then scrutinised and debated by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.

The press conference where Mr Dalli made his announcement was held by the 8hours campaign, which Compassion supports, as they handed in more than one million signatures to the Commission, calling for a maximum eight hour journey time for all animal transports to slaughter.

At the time, campaigners were heartened by the Commissioner's words. But at a Brussels conference on animal welfare legislation on 12th June, the Commissioner's representative said that now was not the time for new legislation.

How can you help?

More than 20,000 emails have now been sent to the Commissioner, asking him to stick to his original statement and to consider bringing the timeframe for the Commission's proposals on animal welfare legislation forward, as the situation needs urgent attention.

You can join fellow European citizens in sending this message. You can also see Mr Dalli making his initial announcement.

Long distance live animal transport

Compassion is working to stop live exports from the UK through the port of Ramsgate, the long distance trade across the EU and from the EU to third countries and the trade across the world.

The EU is a key element in all of these and it is essential that the EU acts as a leader in animal welfare during long distance transport.

Compassion fully supports the 8hours campaign but is also campaigning for the current rules to be properly enforced.

Confusion over EU live transport promise