Billions of baby animals set to be victims of Ursula’s ruthless ‘deregulation drive’
EU’s new laws to protect 1.6bn animals p.a. from barbaric cruelty are for the chop
Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2025
UK’s ban on live animal exports remains thanks to Brexit, but EU’s inhumane animal transportation continues
In what could be seen as a copying of President Trump’s and Reform UK’s DOGE plans to cut waste and over-regulation, all the talk in Brussels these days is about competitiveness and efficiency, cutting red tape, and abandoning new laws. It now seems that up to 1.6 billion EU farm animals per year, subject to inhumane treatment for decades, will fall victim to Ursula’s axe.
For many years the inhumane conditions in the EU for farm animals as they are transported for fattening, slaughter, or breeding, has been the subject of protests both in the UK and across Europe. Thanks to its new freedoms, Brexit Britain was able to impose a live animal export ban last year but the EU’s Directives remain.
'Reform EU'? No, not likely
Several times there has been talk of reforming the EU’s laws, which date back to 2005 and are still based on ‘scientific evidence’ going back to the early 1990s. The latest initiative to bring a limited form of animal rights to the enormous – and heavily-subsidised - agricultural sector started in 2023 and looked as if it might finally start to address the situation, despite firm resistance from the EU’s powerful farming lobby.
Now the new proposals are coming under significant pressure, as the Commission’s newly-found urgency to “cut red tape now” means that many legislative proposals are for the chop, and opponents to the plans have lighted on the Commission’s new priorities as a justification for delay and obfuscation.
© European Union - NA
“The key for Europe in this world is to move faster, make business easier and invest in what makes us unique and strong. This is why we have put out a plan to radically speed up the completion of our Single Market. This is why we are targeting the bottlenecks that are holding our competitiveness back – from energy prices to investment and private capital.
“And it is why we have started a huge simplification drive. We need less complex rules, less overlaps, less forms to fill out. And we need to speed up across the board. An urgency mindset must drive all of our work.”
- Ursula von der Leyen, Berlin, Sat, 25 Oct 2025
Millions of cries for help – What is wrong with the EU’s treatment of animals
Specifically the complaints have related to over-long journeys without breaks, excessively cramped conditions on trucks, very poor sanitary conditions, extreme heat or cold, and all-round suffering on an industrial scale. Unsurprisingly this has led to disease and deaths, and even to small animals drowning in their own waste material.
Young, unweaned calves of only 14 days old and other animals such as piglets, lambs, goats, chickens, etc, can currently be transported over several days for as much as nine hours at a time, only to face slaughter at the end of their journey. Standards are said to be particularly poor in countries such as Romania, where the concept of animal welfare was relatively unknown prior to joining the EU and quite possibly has not moved a long way since then.
The export trade has been especially lucrative for EU farmers, with young animals being sent on journeys to places such as Cameroon, Cambodia and the Philippines.
One of the problems which has not been dealt with by the EU is the way in which farming has become a more specialised industry. Piglets of just three months might be exported from one country, fattened in another, then transported again to be slaughtered in another. Larger profits have been made by economies of scale, with certain countries specialising in certain animals at certain stages in the process.
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Concerns shared by EU citizens
The situation in the EU is not the fault of the people, who seem to share the views of British people to a large degree. The difference in the UK is that the government was able to respond to people’s views and introduce a ban, after leaving the EU. The people of the EU do not have that luxury.
A 2023 Eurobarometer survey – Attitudes of Europeans towards animal welfare found that:
- 84% of Europeans believe the welfare of farmed animals should be better protected
- 83% support limiting the transport time of animals
- 74% support better protection of the welfare of pet animals in their country
- 90% consider that farming and breeding practices should meet basic ethical requirements
The EU – No.1 live animal export capital of the world
For years the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has been investigating what happens in the EU, but no actions have been taken, apart from reports being produced. It does seem clear that mass transportation of live animals across national borders in the EU – and external to the EU – is commonplace.
Those still fighting for more humane animal welfare standards in the EU are optimistic that the new proposed laws may be saved, albeit in watered-down form, but it must be said that few in Brussels as a whole share this optimism.
With so many laws, and such a degree of urgency for deregulation being imposed from on high, it seems increasingly inevitable that the current unacceptable situation will continue for many more years yet.
And finally…
We began by talking of the Brexit benefit of being able to impose a ban on the export of live animals for slaughter or fattening. Unfortunately, this does not apply to one integral part of the UK: Northern Ireland. According to the Commission, N.I. must obey the EU’s antiquated and outmoded thinking, and it is still possible to send and receive live animals to or from the Province.
“The IE/NI Protocol provides that Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 [on live animal welfare and transportation - Ed.] applies to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland. This means that references to the EU in Part A of this Notice have to be understood as including Northern Ireland, whereas references to the United Kingdom have to be understood as referring only to Great Britain.”
- EU Commission notice, 01 Apr 2020
Observations
We are said to be a nation of animal-lovers, amongst other things. The truth is that a great many people in the EU are equally distraught at the inhumane treatment of animals in the EU27, as can be seen from the survey we quoted, from two years ago.
It's a shame that Ursula von der Leyen's new-found sense of urgency to fix many of the problems with the EU does not appear to have extended to this necessary humanitarian act. For years the Commission has been saying it would take action. We found one such initiative from 2015 but there have been others. As with so many things, the EU has lumbered on, making all the right noises but achieving nothing.
In the last few weeks the Commission President seems to have been fired up with energy and determination to act. It remains to be seen how this plays out. Our own very strong suspicion is that this new enthusiasm and sense of 'emergency' will be used as an excuse to extend the Commission's powers still further.
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[ Sources: European Commission: Directorate-General Health and Food Safety | Eurobarometer survey 2023 | Recent speeches by Ursula von der Leyen ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Tues 28 Oct 2025
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