In May 2021, the European Commission designated a third EU Reference Centre for animal welfare, focusing on the welfare of ruminants and equines (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/755). The tasks of the third centre (EURCAW Ruminants & Equines) include supporting the European Commission and the Member States in the application of animal welfare requirements for ruminants and equines, carrying out scientific and technical studies, as well as conducting training courses and disseminating research findings and information on technical innovations. EURCAW Ruminants & Equines covers a range of farm animal species including those used for dairy production (cows, goats, sheep, buffaloes), the production of meat by cattle, sheep, goats, deer and horses, and ruminants and equines kept for other purposes.

EURCAW Ruminants & Equines is constituted of a consortium led by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Swedish Centre for Animal Welfare (Sweden). The centre is also composed of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Austria), the Ellinikos Georgikos Organismos-Dimitra/Veterinary Research Institute (Greece), the National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (France), the University College Dublin (Ireland) and the Instituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale” (Italy).

EURCAW-Pigs was the first reference centre, designated by the Commission in March 2018. This was followed by the nomination of EURCAW-Poultry-SFA in October 2019, devoted to the welfare of poultry and other small-farmed animals. 

Every year, hundreds of millions of male day-old layer chicks are killed after hatching in European Union. Male layer chicks are commercially useless for the eggs industry because they are not suitable for meat production and only females can lay. This unethical practice will be forbidden in France and Germany from 2022, both being the first countries in the world to ban it. 

To avoid male day-old chicks culling, hatcheries need to be equipped with machines to determine the gender of birds in the eggs (by detecting feathers' colour for example), males eggs being destroyed before further development and hatching.

France and Germany have also brought this issue to the European Commission. Some Member States (Austria, Luxembourg, Portugal and Ireland) have already shown their support.

More information:

• German Agriculture Minister Website
• France Agriculture Minister Website (in french)

Last first of July, took place the first meeting between the three EUropean Reference Centers on Animal Welfare and National Reference Centers and Supporting Bodies. This online meeting was a success. 21 European countries were represented. There were presentations of the EURCAWs and existing NRCs and workshops on scientific and technical issues on each species, training and communication.

• Report EURCAWs meeting for National Reference Centres & Supporting Bodies, online meeting 1 July 2021.
• All presentations EURCAWs meeting for National Reference Centres & Supporting Bodies, online meeting 1 July 2021.

The European Commission has responded positively to the European Citizen's Initiative (ECI) that collected 1.4 million signatures within one year from supporters in 28 Member States, being the first successful ECI on farm animals. The European Commission committed to propose to phase out and prohibit the use of cages for laying hens, sows, calves, rabbits, pullets, broiler breeders, layer breeders, quail, geese, and ducks. The proposal is expected by the end of 2023 and will be part of the revision of EU animal welfare legislation.

More information: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/QANDA_21_3298