Harmonized Approaches in Intensive Livestock Production Systems in Europe

Abstract

Animal protection in general and as well as the protection of farm animals in particular is neither a value nor a target of the European Union (EU) and its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). However, farm animal protection within the EU has become increasingly important within the last few years. Since 2009, contract law includes a horizontal clause for the protection of the welfare of animals as sentient beings in Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). For the EU and its Member States the horizontal clause is a commandment of consideration and optimization with respect to the determination and implementation of the agricultural policy. In order to draw attention to the protection of farm animals and primarily to secure the targets of the CAP, the EU harmonizes farm animal protection based on the ancillary competence of the CAP. Especially in the areas of animal keeping, transport and slaughtering, the national law systems shall be harmonized to avoid distortions due to economical competition. While adopting such law acts of harmonization, a balance between interests of agriculture on the one hand and as well as animal protection on the other hand has to be ensured. Adopting animal protection laws at the EU level is limited, though. These limitations cover among others the caveat for culture. Moreover, the EU legislator cannot be obliged to adopting harmonization laws, because of a wide margin of discretion. Due to the balance of interests among the Member States and the protection of farm animals, most law acts include a certain minimum harmonization from which the Member States can deviate by stricter animal protection measures. Finally, in some areas of animal keeping European harmonization processes are still missing completely. This chapter gives an overview of the status quo regarding the harmonization in farm animal protection based on the current secondary law situation in the EU. Several case studies are used to illustrate different EU law acts and their level of harmonization. General problems with respect to harmonization are explained and, finally, an outlook on farm animal protection in the EU is given.