
Will the politically diverse new EP mean a unified voice for animals?

Of the candidates who took the animal welfare pledges in our VoteforAnimals2019 campaign – their public commitment to animal welfare for the next EU parliamentary term – around one in ten have been elected. In the next few days we will make available a full list of the signatories whose candidacy was successful.
We’d like to thank each and every one of the 1004 candidates who, since the campaign’s launch in February, showed their support for a higher commitment to animal welfare during the new political term. With the help of our Member Organisations, who encouraged their candidates in their own countries to take part, the campaign achieved five times more pledges than in the last European election. With clear results like these, the Commission has no excuse not to embrace animal welfare as a priority in its 2019-2023 work programme.
“Recent years have seen strong support for animal welfare from both the European Parliament and public opinion, although meaningful European actions to better protect animals have not been forthcoming,” says Reineke Hameleers, Director at Eurogroup for Animals. “We call on this new European Parliament to live up to their commitment to citizens and animals and urge the new Commission to prioritise animal welfare and break the legislative stalemate we have been facing.”
We call on this new European Parliament to live up to their commitment to citizens and animals and urge the new Commission to prioritise animal welfare and break the legislative stalemate we have been facing.Reineke Hameleers, Director at Eurogroup for Animals
We – and Europe’s animals – have waited too long for the replacement of the transport of live animals with the trade of meat and carcasses, a phase-out of the use of all cages for farmed animals, a revision of the Broiler Directive, positive changes to the Common Agricultural Policy, and stunning prior to slaughter.
For wildlife, an EU-wide positive list of exotic pets determining which animals can be traded and kept is urgently needed. So are total bans on the use of wild animals in circuses and on and fur farming, and the development and implementation of effective non-lethal solutions for the coexistence with large carnivores and the management of invasive alien species.
Pets badly need identification and traceability systems, not only to ensure good welfare and health but also to tackle booming illegal trade all over Europe. The 12 million laboratory animals used each year in Europe desperately need a concrete EU strategy to phase out their use in research, testing and education. Equines need proper care whatever their role, whether they are used for recreation, in sports, on farm, for therapy or for tourism.
To make change happen, MEPs can join the EP Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals. The second oldest of the EP’s 28 Intergroups, it is a cross-party forum and effective driver in promoting initiatives that have frequently led to concrete improvements in EU animal welfare-related policy making. About 70 of the newly elected MEPs have already committed to joining, of which around 50 were already members during the previous political term. This means that this new Parliament – the ninth – already kicks off with a strong and united group of animal welfare-friendly MEPs gearing up to make a difference for animals.
LIST OF ELECTED NEW MEPs WHO SIGNED THE PLEDGE #VOTE4ANIMALS (click here to find out all specific topics each MEPs has pledged for):
Kogler Werner, Austria
Schieder Andreas, Austria
Vollath Bettina, Austria
Gamon Claudia, Austria
MEP Harald Vilimsky, Austria
MEP Regner Evelyn, Austria
Bricmont Saskia, Belgium
MEP Kathleen Van Brempt, Belgium
MEP Frédérique Ries, Belgium
Chastel Olivier, Belgium
Lutgen Benoît, Belgium
De Sutter Petra, Belgium
MEP Biljana Borzan, Croatia
MEP Tonino Picula, Croatia
Tomašić Ruža, Croatia
MEP Michaela Šojdrová, Czech Republic
MEP Jiří Pospíšil, Czech Republic
MEP Stanislav POLČÁK, Czech Republic
Gregorová Markéta, Czech Republic
MEP Luděk Niedermayer, Czech Republic
Zdechovský Tomáš, Czech Republic
MEP Jeppe Kofod, Denmark
MEP Magrete Auken, Denmark
Nikolaj Villumsen, Denmark
Niels Fuglsang, Denmark
Karen Melchior, Denmark
Kira Marie Peter-Hansen, Denmark
Schaldemose Christel, Denmark
MEP Urmas Paet, Estonia
Kaljurand Marina, Estonia
MEP Sirpa Pietikainen, Finland
MEP Sarvamaa Petri, Finland
MEP Heidi Hautala, Finland
MEP Henna Virkkunen, Finland
Niinistö Ville, Finland
Modig Silvia, Finland
MEP Karima Delli, France
MEP Pascal Durand, France
MEP Younous Omarjee, France
Cormand David, France
MEP Dominique Bilde, France
Toussaint Marie, France
Roose Caroline, France
Yenbou Salima, France
Alfonsi François, France
Pelletier Anne Sophie, France
Aubry Manon, France
Chaibi Leïla, France
Jadot Yannick, France
Careme Damien, France
MEP Ska Keller, Germany
MEP Sven Giegold, Germany
Terry Reintke, Germany
Anna Cavazzini, Germany
MEP Tiemo Wölken, Germany
MEP Petra Kammerevert, Germany
Gabriele Bischoff, Germany
MEP Klaus Buchner, Germany
Katrin Langensiepen, Germany
Jutta Paulus, Germany
MEP Maria Noichl, Germany
Buschmann Martin, Germany
MEP Cornelia Ernst, Germany
Andresen Rasmus, Germany
Breyer Patrick, Germany
MEP Martina Michels, Germany
MEP Stelios Kouloglou, Greece
MEP Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Greece
Georgoulis Alexis, Greece
Kokkalis Petros, Greece
Fitzgerald Frances, Ireland
Cuffe Ciarán, Ireland
MEP Castaldo Fabio Massimo, Italy
MEP Marco Zullo, Italy
MEP Piernicola Pedicini, Italy
MEP Eleonora Evi, Italy
Pisapia Giuliano, Italy
MEP Ignazio Corrao, Italy
MEP Tiziana Beghin, Italy
MEP Laura Ferrara, Italy
MEP Rosa D’Amato, Italy
MEP Giuseppe Ferrandino, Italy
MEP Petras Auštrevičius, Lithuania
MEP Tilly Metz, Luxembourg
MEP Roberta Metsola, Malta
MEP David Casa , Malta
MEP Miriam Dalli, Malta
MEP Anja Hazekamp, Netherlands
MEP Bas Eickhout, Netherlands
Halicki Andrzej, Poland
Spurek Sylwia, Poland
Miller Leszek, Poland
Biedroń Robert, Poland
MEP Marisa Matias, Portugal
Guerreiro Francisco, Portugal
Gusmão Jose’, Portugal
Vlad Botoş, Romania
Gheorghe Vlad, Romania
Hojsík Martin, Slovakia
MEP Ivan Štefanec, Slovakia
Wiezik Michal, Slovakia
MEP Romana Tomc, Slovenia
MEP Ernest Urtasun, Spain
MEP Miguel Urbán Crespo, Spain
MEP Frederick Federley, Sweden
Bah Kuhnke Alice, Sweden
MEP Malin Björk, Sweden
MEP Jytte Guteland, Sweden
Holmgren Pär, Sweden
MEP Kirton-Darling Jude, United Kingdom
MEP Molly Scott Cato, United Kingdom
Ainslie Scott, United Kingdom
MEP Julie Ward, United Kingdom
Contact:
Vienna Leigh, Senior Communications Officer
v.leigh@eurogroupforanimals.org | +32 (0)2 207 7715