Campaigners welcome European Commission commitment to start delivering animal welfare review in 2026 with cage ban as a priority

Compassion in World Farming today (19 December) welcomed the European Commission’s commitment to start delivering the promised animal welfare reform in 2026, with the proposals to ban caged farming as a priority.

In the last European Parliament plenary session of 2024 in Strasbourg today, the Animal Welfare Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi announced that the Commission will deliver on animal welfare improvements for EU citizens in 2026, including the 1.4 million people who supported the End the Cage Age (EtCA) European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). However, he failed to set out a clear timeline to deliver the full review of animal welfare legislation.

The announcement follows months of mounting pressure by MEPs across the political spectrum who urged the Commission to include the files on animal welfare in its work programme. Several EU countries - including Sweden, Denmark, Czechia, France and Germany - also called on the EU’s executive to deliver the outstanding legislative proposals as soon as possible.

Referring to the revision of the animal welfare rules, Commissioner Várhelyi told European lawmakers: “We don’t only need to, we will do so.”

In response to the successful End the Cage Age ECI, signed by over 1.4 million EU citizens and led by Compassion in World Farming, the Commission made a clear and legally-binding commitment in 2021 to introduce legislative proposals by 2023 to end caged farming by 2027. Regrettably, the previous Commission failed to deliver on its promise, shelving the proposals at the last moment.

In September, the NGO welcomed consensus reached in the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture’s new report - backed by 29 major federations from the agri-sector, civil society and academia - calling on the European Commission to publish proposals to review the animal welfare rules and ban cages by 2026.

Vinciane Patelou, Head of EU at Compassion in World Farming, said: “This announcement is a significant milestone in the fight to free the 300 million animals still confined in cages every year in the EU, and we will work with the European Commission to ensure that the proposals are indeed delivered in 2026.

“Clarity is still missing on key aspects for the delivery of the outstanding animal welfare proposals, and this is unacceptable - farmed animals have waited long enough. We will hold the Commission accountable for keeping its words towards the millions of EU citizens who demand higher welfare standards for animals.”

For more information about Compassion’s work to end caged farming, visit www.endthecageage.eu.

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For more information or to arrange interviews, please email marta.vigano@ciwf.org

Notes to editors

1. According to the Eurobarometer 2023, an overwhelming 89% of EU citizens – around 400 million people – believe animals should not be farmed in individual cages. Yet, across Europe, around 300 million pigs, hens, rabbits, ducks, quail and geese still spend most of their lives in cages every year. Animals kept in cages are often confined in barren environments, either overcrowded or completely lacking social contact, unable to turn around or express even the most basic behaviours.
2. In a 2021 resolution, Parliament called on the European Commission to propose a law to phase out the use of cages on EU farms. Members of the European Parliament have repeatedly asked the Commission to explain why it has not put forward a proposal on cage-free farming. In November 2024, several MEPs submitted an oral question to include the revision of the remaining legislative acts on animal welfare.
3. At the last AGRIFISH Council before the EU Parliament elections in June, several Member States, spearheaded by Slovenia, called on the Commission to continue to “prioritise animal welfare at the core of its next agenda.” Similarly, in November 2024 several Member States urged the Commission to include the pending animal welfare files in the Commission’s 2025 work programme.
4. Compassion in World Farming was founded in 1967 by a British dairy farmer who became horrified at the development of intensive factory farming. Today Compassion is the leading farm animal welfare organisation dedicated to ending factory farming and achieving humane and sustainable food production. With headquarters in the UK, we have offices across Europe, in the US, China and South Africa.