After months of protests, the EU sets a timeline for the first time to ban cages
There’s news that, after years of silence and delays, finally seems to be moving something: for the first time, the European Commission has written down a concrete timeline to ban cages in animal farming. An updated draft of the Livestock Strategy, seen by POLITICO Europe, calls for a review of welfare standards for laying hens and chickens raised for meat by the end of 2026, followed by a proposal dedicated to pigs in the second quarter of 2027.
This timing is no coincidence. Over the past week, Brussels has been the scene of four days of mobilisation: more than 170 activists and MEPs from four different political groups gathered in front of the Berlaymont, DG SANTE, and Place du Luxembourg to demand that the Commission keep its 2021 promise regarding the cage ban.
How the EU plans to ban cages
If confirmed, the reform would introduce the phasing out of cages for chickens, an end to the systematic killing of male chicks, new farm welfare indicators, equivalent requirements for imported products, and an update to egg labels so consumers can recognise which farms have abandoned this practice. For pigs, the idea is to move from cages to group pens, again with similar welfare indicators and import rules.
In the text, the Commission describes animal welfare as an essential component for the future competitiveness and sustainability of the livestock sector: a significant shift in perspective, after years in which the issue seemed relegated to the background.
A week of protests, and more
Behind this shift lies months of work by Animal Equality, which further increased public pressure on the EU Commission between June 22 and 25. The action began on Monday and Tuesday in front of the Berlaymont (the Commission headquarters), coinciding with the AGRIFISH Council of agriculture ministers in Luxembourg. MEP Sebastian Everding, vice-president of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Animal Welfare and Conservation, also spoke at the meeting, stressing how deeply millions of European citizens feel about this issue.
At dawn on Wednesday, a banner in the shape of a giant receipt appeared in front of the Berlaymont, detailing the unfulfilled promises of the past five years. That same day, MEPs Niels Fuglsang and Tilly Metz wrote to Commissioners Hansen (Agriculture and Food) and Várhelyi (Animal Health and Welfare), calling for the Strategy to finally set a clear timetable for the complete overhaul of EU animal welfare legislation. In the late afternoon, the demonstration moved to Place du Luxembourg, in front of the European Parliament, with MEPs from various political parties joining the activists.
On Thursday, the week concluded in front of DG SANTE with a symbolic installation: activists in protective suits cordoned off an area with “crime scene” tape, with silhouettes of pigs, laying hens, and calves in the center, representing the victims of reforms that never came.
A date is not yet a law
We must be cautious: the dates, for now, are only provisional – a placeholder is not a definitive commitment. The real test will be July 7, the day the Strategy is expected to be formally adopted: only then will it be clear whether the commitment made to 1.4 million European citizens in 2021 will finally become a binding text, or yet another postponed promise.
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