Vote for Animals 2024: The Pledge

I PLEDGE TO MAKE THE COMMISSION WORK HARDER FOR ANIMALS

I demand that the Commission delivers, without delay, legislation that is not watered down or compromised. Legislation that is ambitious, humane and progressive. Legislation that is in line with the clear call of millions of EU citizens.

I will fight for new laws that raise the bar.

I will work to improve the basic standards of care for animals already protected under EU laws.

I want to ban slaughter without prior stunning.

There is clear scientific evidence that slaughter without stunning causes animals acute suffering. The slaughter of animals without pre-stunning must be banned in concertation with the religious authorities.

I want no species to be forgotten.

I believe our species-specific legislation doesn’t go far enough. I want specific legislation also tailored to fish species, turkeys, dairy cows and rabbits.

I want a cage-free Europe within five years.

Following the ECI “End the Cage Age”, I support an expedited ban on the confinement of all farmed animals in Europe (poultry, pigs, calves, quail, ducks and geese). I want to see this happen within three to five years.

I want a better deal for chickens and hens.

For too long, broiler chickens and laying hens have had to endure insufferable conditions. This has to stop now. I seek to ensure strong protection - including lowering stocking densities, a ban on slaughter using water bath stunning, adoption of higher welfare breeds and an end to inhumane beak trimming.

I PLEDGE TO STOP THE SUFFERING OF ANIMALS IN LIVE TRANSPORT

I want to see a much stronger Regulation to avoid animals suffering unnecessarily. In line with scientific advice, and the call of millions of EU citizens, the European Parliament and the Court of Auditors, I believe the time has come to make all transport a last resort. Long-distance journeys should not be allowed, whatever the final destination is (slaughter or breeding) and derogations should not exist as they can create loopholes that prolong these journeys.

This must include a limit of journey times to no more than eight hours for pigs and ruminants (cattle, goat and sheep), and no more than four hours for poultry and rabbits.

I will work to see an end to the transport of vulnerable animals.

Vulnerable animals like unweaned calves, pregnant females and animals not fit for transport should not be transported, even under a derogation.

I believe that Europe must favour transporting meat, not live animals.

I want trade to move away from live animals towards meat, carcasses and embryonic products, with better local slaughterhouse facilities.

I PLEDGE TO PROTECT THE WELFARE OF AQUATIC SPECIES

I demand the Commission works harder to protect aquatic species.

I insist it introduces sustainable and welfare-positive legislation for fish and all aquatic species.

I pledge to protect the welfare of farmed and wild caught fish.

I want to see higher standards for farming, transport and slaughter, and I want better welfare for target species in wild capture fisheries.

I demand that we ban octopus farming before it starts.

This barbaric concept must be outlawed before it is ever allowed to be established.

I PLEDGE TO MAKE FOOD PRODUCTION BETTER FOR US, FOR ANIMALS AND OUR PLANET

I pledge to fight for sustainable food production.

I demand that the Common Agricultural Policy supports a sustainable food production sector with high animal welfare at its heart. I will fight for an EU policy that encourages an easy transition towards food production that is healthier, kinder, and more sustainable.

It should be easier for us to switch to plant based choices.

We must all rely less on a meat-based diet and switch to choices that are healthier for us, for animals and for the planet. I will fight to deliver an EU food policy that makes this possible.

We must reform the Common Agricultural Policy.

I believe the Common Agricultural Policy must support farmers as they adopt more sustainable food production methods. It must help with the costs associated with higher animal welfare standards.

We need to support cell-based food research.

Encouraging the development of cell-based food production (growing animal food products directly from cell cultures) has a key role to play in the development of sustainable alternative food sources. More funding will accelerate this emerging sector safely and swiftly.

I PLEDGE FOR STRICTER RULES ON IMPORTED ANIMAL-BASED PRODUCTS

We must tighten up the rules on importing animal-based products.

All trade in animal-based products from countries outside the EU must fully respect the same standards as those established by the new and revised EU animal welfare legislation. There must be no loopholes that allow products derived from cruelly-treated animals to be imported into the EU market.

I want trade with Mercosur not to create any additional suffering for animals.

I pledge that the EU–Mercosur agreement (formalising a trading partnership between the EU and Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) should not be finalised until animal welfare conditions apply to all imported products from the region.

I PLEDGE TO ACCELERATE THE TRANSITION TO NON-ANIMAL SCIENCE

I want to see progress to avoid, replace and reduce the use of animals in research and testing.

The Commission must introduce new EU-wide strategic actions to help the transition away from animal-based regulatory testing and research as quickly as possible. It must prioritise key research areas and set out clear and achievable milestones.

I want to see:

Realistic funding to develop new, advanced animal-free research methods.
Large-scale support to create facilities and ecosystems where animal-free methods can thrive.
Support for Member States to agree on – and introduce – better education and training in animal-free methodologies.
Active knowledge-sharing to increase awareness of new and emerging animal-free technologies.

I want legislative frameworks to recognise animal-free methodologies.

I want the current frameworks to be adapted and modified so that non-animal methods can be increasingly used to test whether products are safe and effective.

I will support the scientific community to shift towards animal-free testing.

Like millions of citizens, scientists and researchers I believe this will benefit human health, the environment and animal wellbeing. I believe that we need to do all we can to make this happen sooner.

I PLEDGE FOR A BETTER DEAL FOR WILD ANIMALS

I want to see a ‘positive’ list of animal species allowed to be kept as pets.

The EU must adopt a list of animal species permitted as pets, determining which species can be traded for life in captivity in the home.

I want to strengthen EU legislation for zoos.

EU zoo legislation should be strengthened to ensure that it is better implemented across Member States, ensuring improvements to welfare, conservation, education and where possible rescue of animals, as well as to provide legal definitions of rescue centres and sanctuaries

I want to implement the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking.

This would see increased monitoring, more vigilance and funding, as well as the adoption of the ‘One Health’ approach in all actions. There would also be more EU rescue centre capacity, and more funding for them. Imports of hunting trophies would be restricted.

I believe all wild animals should be positively valued and protected.

We must find better ways for us to live with native wild animals. I recognise the intrinsic and ecological value of all wild animals and will promote the protection of biodiversity and coexistence, including with large carnivores.

As all wild animals are sentient beings, I will also call for more research in non-lethal and humane methods in wildlife management, and for these methods to be prioritised.

Finally, I will fight for measures to end cruelty and commercial exploitation of wild animals, including a ban on the import of kangaroo products.

I PLEDGE FOR A BAN ON FUR FARMING AND ON THE PLACEMENT OF FARMED FUR PRODUCTS ON THE EUROPEAN MARKET

I want to see, without delay, an EU-wide ban on fur farming.

I want this ban adopted as soon as possible. Based on animal welfare, ethical, environmental and public health grounds, the ban would reflect the strong opposition from EU citizens, clearly voiced in the successful ECI Fur Free Europe.

I want an end to the trade in farmed-fur products.

I want the same EU animal welfare standards applied to all products sold on the EU market: we must ban the import and sale of farmed fur products into the European market.

I PLEDGE FOR BETTER CARE FOR OUR COMPANION ANIMALS

I believe our companion animals deserve to be treated better.

I want the full traceability of animals and their successive owners across the EU to become a reality. This requires national systems to share information to help with cross-border traceability.

I want to see better breeding practices.

Legislation must promote breeding methods that foster happier and healthier companion animals. Extreme breeding practices, leading to life-limiting physical health issues and mental trauma, must be banned.

Poor breeding, transporting and trading practices concerning cats and dogs should be banned.

I want to see the selling of dogs, cats and equines subject to stricter controls across the EU. I want to see stricter rules governing every stage of transportation, on a species-by-species basis.

All equines, whatever their purpose, must benefit from better welfare.

Whether kept for companionship, leisure, work or food production, no equine’s welfare must ever fall between the lines of different legislations. At every stage of their life, we must work harder to maximise equines’ protection. I want to see the production, import and sale of the fertility hormone extremely painfully extracted from pregnant mares (eCG) banned.

We must ensure all handlers are competent.

We need better laws to ensure handlers are properly trained to care for equines, including safeguarding their physical needs and their mental welfare.

I PLEDGE FOR AN EU COMMISSIONER FOR ANIMAL WELFARE

We must keep the promises we make to our animals.

We are fortunate to have for now a Commission which clearly wants to do the right thing. It has announced its intention to improve legislation regarding animal welfare in the future. We must do all we can to support its ambitious and timely aims. Aims that are clearly shared by millions of EU citizens.

We can not repeat the inaction of the past.

Sadly, previous Commissions’ actions in this matter have been all but absent. If we don’t act now, I believe this could well be the case when the next Commission begins in late 2024. A new period of inaction on animal welfare should - and can - be prevented. The way forward is clear: an EU Commissioner explicitly in charge.

It’s time to stop passing the buck on animal welfare.

I want to see animal welfare integrated explicitly in the job title of the relevant EU Commissioner. I want to see the European Parliament’s Committees work on EU animal welfare carried out along the One Health approach, sustainably addressing the health of citizens, animals and the environment.

I believe we are all in this together.

The health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the wider environment are closely linked. That’s why I believe the responsibility for animal welfare should apply to a much wider number of Committees, not just to agricultural concerns.

We are in this together. I believe our future health and prosperity, and the future prosperity of the EU, depends on us finally giving animals the attention they deserve.