In 2020, the Commission started a process to update and modernise the EU animal-welfare legislation. One important milestone was the publication of the Fitness Check, which evaluated current legislation covering farm welfare, welfare during animal slaughter, and welfare during animal transport.
In 2021, the Commission responded positively to the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) "End the Cage Age", announcing plans to propose legislation to ban cages for the animal species and categories covered by the ECI.
In 2022 and 2023, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) adopted several scientific opinions to aid in modernising these laws, by providing scientific and technical evidence on animal welfare (see below “Actions taken during the previous Commission”).
When drafting new laws, the Commission considers this updated evidence alongside socio-economic and environmental impacts, as shown through thorough impact assessments.
In 2023, the Commission adopted a proposal to update the regulation on animal transport and a proposal for the first EU regulation on the welfare and traceability of dogs and cats.
Transport and dog & cat welfare – proposed legislation (2023)
Proposed measures on transport will improve the wellbeing of the 1.6 billion animals transported annually across and from EU borders. They will update the current rules – which are more than 20 years old – addressing their technical and administrative limitations for better enforcement.
New rules will introduce uniform EU standards for the welfare and traceability of dogs and cats. For the first time, there will be consistent rules for breeding, housing, handling and reproduction in breeding establishments, pet shops and shelters. The rules will also strengthen existing provisions to combat illegal trafficking.
The European Parliament and the Council are reviewing these two legislative proposals.
Vision on Agriculture and Food (2025)
The Vision for Agriculture and Food was adopted on 19 February 2025, building on the recommendations by the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture.
As outlined in the vision document, the Commission will engage closely with farmers, the food supply chain and civil society. Based on these exchanges, the Commission plans to propose further revision to existing EU animal welfare legislation, including the phasing out of cages.
The Commission will also pursue, in line with international rules, a stronger alignment of animal-welfare standards applied to imported animals and food.
This revision will be based on the latest scientific evidence and consider the socio-economic impact on farmers and the agri-food chain. It will include support and tailored transition periods for specific species.
As part of the Vision for Agriculture and Food, the Commission will also explore targeted labelling related to animal welfare, to address societal expectations.
On-farm animal welfare – call for evidence and public consultation (2025)
Following the announcement made in the Vision on Agriculture, the Commission launched an impact assessment for a revision of EU’s on-farm welfare legislation. As a first step, between 18 June and 16 July 2025, the Commission ran a call for evidence regarding on-farm animal welfareto seek input from citizens, businesses, NGOs and other stakeholders to help revise EU animal welfare legislation. More than 700 responses were received.
The Commission continues to conduct various general and targeted consultations to contribute to the assessment of animal welfare, economic, social and environmental impacts of possible options.
This includes a 12-week public consultation regarding on-farm animal welfare for certain animals, running from 19 September to 12 December 2025, to gather the views of farmers, citizens, businesses, national and regional authorities, NGOs and other interested parties on the revision of the EU legislation.
The Farm to Fork Strategy adopted by the Commission on 20 May 2020 announced that the Commission will revise the animal welfare legislation to align it with the latest scientific evidence.
The preparatory work under the Farm to Fork Strategy concerned a revision the following pieces of legislation: the Directive on the protection of animals kept for farming purposes, four Directives laying down minimum standards for the protection of laying hens, broilers, pigs and calves; and the Regulations on the protection of animals during transport and at the time of killing. In addition, the preparatory work dealt with a possible new legislation on animal welfare labelling.
In 2021, based on the preliminary findings of the evaluation of the current legislation ("Fitness check"), the Commission published an Inception Impact Assessment Roadmap presenting the policy options envisaged for an Impact Assessment.
A public consultation was held from 15 October 2021 to 21 January 2022 to gather views and experience of citizens and stakeholders on the fitness of the current rules and on how they could be improved. See the factual summary report of the 5 9281 contributions received.
In September 2022, the Fitness Check was concluded. Its results, presented in a Commission Staff Working Document, confirms the need to revise and modernise the EU animal welfare legislation, and provides a good basis for this revision.
Based on mandates from the Commission, EFSA has published Scientific Opinions on the welfare at farm of broilers; of calves; of pigs; of laying hens; of dairy cows; of ducks, geese and quails (when it comes to their housing conditions); as well as the welfare during transport of pigs, bovines, equids, small ruminants and animals transported in containers.
In 2021, the Commission sent a roadmap to EFSA summarising indicatively the animal welfare mandates it plans to send to EFSA for scientific opinions to be delivered between 2022 and 2028.
In addition, EFSA adopted a scientific Report on the welfare of cats and dogs in commercial breeding establishments. Later, EFSA worked on European Commission mandates concerning the welfare at farm of beef cattle, of turkeys, of equines, and of fur animals, with these mandates being delivered as of 2025.
The European Commission has asked two of the voluntary initiatives of the EU Platform on Animal Welfare to provide them support on possible elements to improve the welfare of equids and pets in the updated EU animal welfare legislation. The produced recommendations are available here.
In 2022, the Commission established 6 subgroups under the EU Animal Welfare Platform, on the welfare at farm of pigs, of poultry, of dairy cows and calves, the welfare during transport, the welfare at the time of killing, and on animal welfare labelling, to provide input and views in the context of the Commission’s preparatory work. These subgroups held a series of meetings in 2022 and 2023 the minutes of which are published.
In 2022, the Commission published a fact-finding study on animal welfare labelling.