They do not, however, represent the official position of the European Parliament. This is an informal inter-party platform, where Members of the European Parliament can exchange views on animal welfare and promote contact between Members and civil society. The European Union and the Council of Europe work independently.įinally, we would like to draw your attention to the Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals, and especially its Companion Animals Working Group. The Council of Europe’s European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals is not part of EU law, although it has been ratified by several EU countries, including Portugal. However, the welfare of pet animals remains the sole responsibility of each individual EU country and is not subject to EU-wide rules. This protection is enshrined in the EU Treaties. The EU takes full account of animal welfare requirements when defining its policies on agriculture, fisheries, transport, the internal market, research and technological development and space. Under European Union law, the European Commission is the only institution that can submit proposals for legislation. Please find below the main points of the reply sent to citizens who took the time to write to the President of the European Parliament on this matter (in English and Portuguese). Citizens are calling on the EU to act to protect pets. Citizens first began to write to the President on this subject in March 2023, in the context of the risk that a 2014 Portuguese law criminalising the mistreatment or abandonment of pets is declared unconstitutional. The President of the European Parliament has recently received a large number of messages calling on the European Union to adopt measures for legal protection of animal rights. The Citizens’ Enquiries Unit (AskEP) within the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) looks into these issues and replies to the messages, which may sometimes be identical as part of wider public campaigns. Citizens often send messages to the President of the European Parliament (or to the institution’s public portal) expressing their views on current issues and/or requesting action from the Parliament.
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