Skip to main content
Food Safety

Evaluation of the EU strategy on Animal Welfare

Following a recommendation from the European Court of Auditors (i.e. Special report No 31/2018 on Animal welfare in the EU), the Commission performed an evaluation of the EU Strategy for Protection and Welfare of Animals (2012-2015).

The outcome of the evaluation is published in the form of a Staff Working Document here:

This evaluation assessed the extent to which the strategy delivered on its objectives and whether they are relevant and consistent today. It looked at efficiency and whether the strategy usefully complemented national efforts in this field.

The evaluation found that the strategy contributed to setting common priorities that led to improvements on animal welfare across the EU. It also contributed to improve knowledge and sharing of best practices, as well as to enforcement of EU legislation in specific areas.

However, none of the strategy's objectives has been fully achieved. The evaluation and review of the animal welfare legislation will look at the legislative gaps identified in and after 2012 and will seek to make the animal welfare acquis more fit for purpose. As regards enforcement, special attention will be given to compliance risk areas identified by this evaluation.

The evaluation of the EU Strategy for Protection and Welfare of Animals (2012-2015) drew from a study carried out by an external contractor, which applied a mixed-method approach to address the evaluation questions.

The methods used included desk research, an online public consultation of 13 weeks, targeted surveys and semi-structured interviews to ensure broader coverage of stakeholders. In addition, eight case studies were carried out to further support the analysis.

The study report is published here: