European Union
Working in Europe
Britain's membership of the European Union has created real opportunities to improve animal welfare across the 27 member states. Many animal welfare issues are proposed, debated and legislated on, such as live animal transport and food labelling can only effectively be tackled at the European level.
The European Union comprises of three parts: the Council of Ministers, the European Commission and the European Parliament. Each has separate and distinct responsibilities. MEPs are elected every five years.
The RSPCA works closely with the Eurogroup for Animals in Brussels to ensure animal welfare has a strong voice at the heart of the EU decision making process. For further information on the decision making process read our downloadable pdf: Guide to the European Union (PDF 15.2 KB)
You can also download the newest version of the RSPCA's European newsletter here:
European News July 2009 (PDF 742kb)
Lisbon Treaty
There has been little change to the rules on animal welfare but some of the measures to increase the power of the European Parliament and changes to how the voting procedure in the Council of Ministers works will have a big impact on how the RSPCA lobbies in the EU.
Article 13 of the Treaty now reads that the EU and member states will need to ‘pay full regard to the requirements of animal welfare’. This will mean that the European Commission will need to carry out ‘animal welfare impact assessments’ before adopting new policies.
The majority of EU policy making will now have to carried out by the co-decision procedure, meaning that the parliament has a much bigger say on issues, including the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This makes lobbying of MEPs even more important than it used to be.
In the future, a petition system may be set up for EU citizens. Petitions would require one million signatures from across a number of countries. A public consultation is ongoing.
Read a fuller briefing by Eurogroup for Animals on the Lisbon Treaty and its consequences for animal welfare.
The Lisbon Treaty came into force on 1 December 2009. The Treaty aims to make the EU more democratic, more efficient and transparent.
- Farm animals
Find out about how animals are farmed, our work to improve their lives, and how you can help.
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