The joint declaration on pig welfare in Europe, signed in Copenhagen last month, will be accorded “thorough analysis” by the European Commission (EC) over the next few weeks according to a pledge made in Brussels yesterday by the European agriculture commissioner, Phil Hogan.
Speaking after a meeting of the agriculture and fisheries council, Mr Hogan said that the declaration had been outlined in some detail by Denmark’s farm minister, Dan Jørgensen, and that the matter was now awaiting the attention of EC Health & Food Safety Commissioner, Vytenis Andriukaitis, who wasn’t at the meeting due to ill health.
“We are currently working on a European-wide strategy in relation to animal welfare and many of the issues raised by this declaration are already being considered by the EC,” said Mr Hogan.
“I hope, however, that we will be able to respond more fully (concerning the declaration) when Commissioner Andriukaitis’s health is better in the next couple of weeks, when he will be able to conduct a very thorough analysis of the recommendations.”
The joint declaration, backed by agriculture ministers from Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden and Germany, was signed during the recent International Conference on Pig Welfare in Copenhagen.
Pictured above (from left) are: Dan Jørgensen, Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, DK; Sharon Dijksma, Minister for Agriculture, NL; Sven-Erik Bucht, Minister for Rural Affairs, SE; and Christian Schmidt, Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, DE. Â