This “fitness check” is a key step in the revision of the legislation, which was announced, in May 2020, in the Farm to Fork Strategy. Seven pieces of legislation were reviewed, together with extensive desk research, targeted stakeholders’ consultations and a public consultation that generated close to 60.000 contributions. The review shows that the current legislation has brought additional benefits for animals, and society, such as higher meat quality and enhanced ecosystem services, and has contributed to a lower use of antibiotics. Nevertheless, some gaps have been identified including, for example, in the keeping of animals and the absence, in the legislation, of specific welfare requirements for certain animals, such as dairy cows or cats and dogs. Moreover, the enforcement of the current rules remains insufficient in some areas, also due to the vagueness of some provisions adopted, for some of them, more than twenty years ago. The legislation also needs to be updated to take into account citizens’ expectations in this area such as the phasing out of cages. This report will now serve as input to the comprehensive revision of the animal welfare legislation, expected to be presented in the second half of 2023. This revision will be one of the building blocks of the Farm to Fork Strategy, which aims to make EU food systems more sustainable. The Commission is working on the revision and the assessment of the economic, social and environmental impacts of possible future changes. The report will serve as input to this process and will be complemented by additional scientific input as well as further stakeholders’ consultations.

More information:

• See the Revision of the animal welfare legislation web page