The journey that brought us here

It all started in Brussels back in September 2018 when, with the help of key Members of the European Parliament, the Initiative was launched.

Soon enough, we realised that we had created one of the biggest political pushes in the history of farmed animal welfare. The ECI received support from a network of over 170 organisations, several celebrities and numerous Members of the EU Parliament working for cage-free farming.

This is how we achieved what had seemed impossible – 1.4 million validated signatures from citizens in 28 countries.

MEPs started mobilizing others inside the European Parliament to persuade the European Commission into action. Food companies joined the call, asking for the phase out of the use of cages in animal farming, starting with egg-laying hens. Civil society organisations followed, emphasising the link between banning cages and environmental as well as sustainability objectives.

This wide mobilisation soon started yielding results, with the positive response from EU Agriculture Commissioner Janus Wojciechowski, and finally with the words of Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, who is in charge of animal welfare.

On 30 June 2021, the European Commission made a historic commitment to phase out cages in animal farming across the EU, by prohibiting cages for hens, mother pigs, calves, rabbits, ducks, geese and other farmed animals, looking at a phase-out date by 2027.