Animal Welfare Article of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union is undermined by absence of access to justice

Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (the "Lisbon Treaty") provides that in “formulating and implementing the Union’s agriculture, fisheries, transport, internal market, research and technological development and space policies, the Union and the Member States shall, since animals are sentient beings, pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals”. However, we argue that an examination of European Commission's policies finds a failure to respect Article 13. Animal welfare organisations are unable to challenge the Commission’s failure at the Court of Justice of the European Union and we argue that the Treaty should be amended to allow this. In the meantime the Commission should on a voluntary basis establish internal review procedures that enable civil society organisations to demand review of Commission acts and omissions by an independent and impartial body.