15.11.2011

EU

At the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, the Commission warned member states of the negative consequences of non-compliance over the ban on conventional battery cages for laying hens, and reconfirmed its determination not to postpone the ban and to act firmly against cases of non-compliance.
Ministers were briefed by the Commission on the implementation of directive 1999/74 on the protection of laying hens (16603/11). Most delegations were in favour to strictly maintain the deadline for implementing the directive on the protection of laying hens because they considered producers had made huge efforts on this important animal welfare issue and delaying implementation would be unfair on these farmers. Some other member states in which the directive is not fully implemented indicated that they will accelerate the process in order to comply with the directive. The Commission informed the Council of the outcome of the meeting with the member states on the level of implementation of the directive on the welfare of laying hens which took place at the end of last month. As it showed that the implementation is still incomplete in some member states and information is still partly missing, the meeting was convened to find practical solutions to prevent the illegal circulation of eggs not produced in compliance with the law, in order to avoid potential disruption of the egg market at the end of this year. The Commission warned member states of the negative consequences of such non-compliance and reconfirmed its determination not to postpone the ban and to act firmly against cases of noncompliance. Directive 1999/74 provides that conventional cages will have to be phased out in the EU by 1 January 2012 because they have been found unacceptable for animal welfare reasons. Those cages have to be replaced either by enriched cages or alternative systems. Member states have been primarily responsible for the implementation of the directive since its adoption.