European Commission urges 9 Member States to implement sow stalls ban

Posted on 21/02/2013

Eurogroup welcomes the warning the European Commission has sent today to nine EU Member States for not complying with EU Directive (EC) 2001/88 on the protection of pigs, which introduces a ban on the use of individual stalls for pregnant sows and gilts as of 1 January this year.

Despite a generous 12 years phase-out period, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Poland and Portugal are still keeping thousands of pregnant sows in cruel gestation crates and create market distortion at the expense of already complying producers.

This is totally unacceptable and Eurogroup hopes that these nine countries will comply with the law as quickly as possible as that previously stated they would in a public stakeholder meeting at the end of January.

Following the first step taken today by the Commission, Member States have now two months to respond or it will send them a reasoned opinion, the last step before referral to the European Court of Justice.