Let's tie EU farm grants to better treatment of poultry and livestock
EU - Campaigning MEP John Flack is backing a move to link farm subsidies to animal welfare across Europe
4 December 2018
2 minute read
By: He is supporting a report by fellow European Conservatives and Reformists MEP, Jorn Dohrmann of Denmark, which identified huge differences between different EU countries in record-keeping on welfare standards.
The report, which was submitted to the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee on 3 December 2018 in Brussels, calls for stronger links between animal welfare and grants paid under the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy.
It also says the transport of live animals to third countries should be banned if their standards do not match the EU's as a minimum.
Mr Flack, an ardent campaigner against animal cruelty, said: "Britain's own track record on the treatment of animals falls short of perfect - but I have to say that if the standards of all other EU countries matched ours then things would be a lot better.
"That is why we should not be sending live animals overseas to whatever fate awaits them there. It is one reason I want an outright ban on live animal exports.
"Money - and the witholding of it - is a language all farmers seem to understand. So reform of the CAP, tying payments to better welfare standards, could be a really effective lever to get some of the less humane nations to do better."
Ryan Johnson
Ryan worked in conservation from 2008 to 2017, during which time he operated a rainbow trout hatchery and helped to maintain public and protected green spaces in Canada for the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. As editor of The Poultry Site, he now writes about challenges and opportunities in agriculture across the globe.
