European Parliament approves creation of Committee of Inquiry on the Protection of Animals during Transport

Brussels, 19 June 2020 – MEPs approved the creation of a Committee of Inquiry to investigate any issues associated with animal transport in the European Union. The initiative takes place after pressure from civil society, animal rights NGOs and the group of the Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA).

“This victory was only possible due to the determined and consistent action of several NGOs, namely in Portugal by the Platform Against the Transportation of Live Animals (PATAV), the Animal Save Movement, and SOS Animal,” says MEP Francisco Guerreiro (Greens/EFA).

Given the serious and systematic violations of the regulation on the protection of animals during transport in the European Union (EU) and beyond, the Greens/EFA group has been pressuring the other political groups of the European Parliament (EP) for the creation of a Commission of Inquiry on the transport of live animals. 

Committees of Inquiry serve to investigate possible violations or alleged maladministration of EU law and are rarely used by the Parliament, which gives them high importance in the European institutions.

Every year, millions of animals, such as pigs, cows and sheep, are transported long distances across the EU and to third countries to be reared, fattened or slaughtered. These animals are very often transported in confined spaces far beyond the permitted times (maximum 8 hours), the supply of water and food is inadequate, and rules on temperatures and rest periods are not controlled or respected.

From 2009 to 2015, the number of animals transported in the EU increased by 19% - from 1.25 billion to 1.49 billion, according to data from the European Parliamentary Research Service. The numbers of pigs, poultry and horses increased, while those of cattle, sheep and goats decreased. In the same period, the number of live animal consignements in the EU increased from around 400,000 to 430,000 per year.

In December 2019, MEP Francisco Guerreiro sent a question to the European Commission about this problem after the drowning of more than 14,300 sheep in the sinking of the Queen Hind ship, in the Black Sea, in Romania - a disaster that again raised questions about the widespread disregard for the existing legislation ((EC) 1/2005).

This Commission of Inquiry will now have to submit the final report within one year. 

During the previous parliamentary term, the EP Conference of Presidents blocked the creation of the Committee of Inquiry. Later, in February 2019, an implementation report was voted on and approved in plenary, recommending the creation of this Commission when the new term began (321 votes in favour, 256 against and 17 abstentions). After a new round collecting signatures of new MEPs, the Conference of Presidents finally approved, in plenary, the creation of a Commission.

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