Over the years, EU consumers have growingly expressed their wish to be better informed on the farming conditions of animals. Information on animal welfare exists for some products due to legislation or private initiatives.
However, apart from eggs, most animal welfare labels are voluntary. In any case, there is no EU harmonised system for most products and consumers are often unable to understand and differentiate the various labels proposed.
In December 2019, the Council of the European Union invited the Commission to assess the need for and impact of an EU regulatory framework with criteria for animal welfare labelling schemes, while considering national experience.
Mid 2020, the Commission began exploring options for animal welfare labelling as part of the Farm to Fork Strategy to better transmit value through the food chain. To this end, the Commission established a first sub-group on animal welfare labelling under the EU Platform on Animal Welfare. This sub-group assisted the Commission from 2020 to 2021 in collecting data on previous experiences with animal welfare labelling. The conclusions on the subgroup are available here.
In December 2020, the Council approved conclusions for an EU-wide animal welfare label inviting the Commission to submit a proposal on an EU-wide animal welfare label for food produced under animal welfare standards higher than those in EU legislation.
In March 2022, the Commission established a new sub-group on animal welfare labelling under the EU Platform on Animal Welfare to gather technical expertise, on a consultative basis, to enhance consumer information about animal welfare and explore potential incentives for farmers to improve the current standards. The Minutes of the meetings are available here.
In parallel, the Commission published a fact-finding external study in March 2022.
Current EU system
At present, there is only one EU-wide compulsory system of labelling on animal welfare, which applies to table eggs. It is based on the EU legislation for laying hens and defines different production methods (cages, free range, barn, etc.).
There are also EU voluntary marketing standards for poultry meat, which includes reference to types of farming.
In addition, the EU organic farming rules encourage a high standard of animal welfare.
Related links
- Study on animal welfare labelling, 2022
- Conclusion of the first Platform subgroup on animal welfare labelling, 2021
- Council supports EU-wide animal welfare label, Press release, 2020
- Council conclusions on animal welfare - an integral part of sustainable animal production, 2019
- Report: Options for animal welfare labelling and the establishment of a European Network of Reference Centres, 2009