ECONWELFARE

"Good animal welfare in a socio-economic context: Project to promote insight on the impact for the animal, the production chain and society of upgrading animal welfare standards."

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The project proposal has been prepared in response to the call KBBE-2007-1-4-15 “Assessing the socio-economic consequences and costs benefits of measures promoting good animal welfare”. Central in this call is support to develop European policies implementing the Action Plan on Animal Welfare. Overall objective of the project is related to the policy instruments needed to achieve the aims of the Action Plan on Animal Welfare. At the end of the project we want to say what policy instruments are effective in the route towards higher animal welfare representing the concerns of civil society and in which competitiveness of the livestock industry is guaranteed. Basic questions in relation to objective 1. What are the current welfare initiatives and standards within the EU and its trade partners? 2. What are strength and weaknesses of these initiatives and standards to the animal, society and the production chain? 3. What policy instruments can be designed to promote high(er) animal welfare standards as aimed at in the Action Plan on Animal Welfare, and how can progress be monitored? 4. What are the benefits, costs and trade impacts of upgraded welfare standards? Activities in relation to objective - Communicate and debate to realize interaction across scientists, relevant stakeholders and citizens - Review and analyse current state of animal welfare in selected EU states and third countries - Examine strength and weaknesses in the current animal welfare standards to opinion of animal scientists, the supply chain, and consumers and citizens - Perform a SWOT-analysis on approaches for upgraded animal welfare - Brainstorm on strategic options for the EU to implement the Action Plan on Animal Welfare - Assesses costs and benefits when approaches and policies are introduced within the production chain - Perform macro-economic analysis of the competitiveness of European agricultural sectors and the impact on world trade - Organise a concluding workshop'

Introduzione (Teaser)

EU researchers have made recommendations on how to develop policies for improving animal well-being in Europe. Such policies should enhance the welfare of livestock while raising standards down on the farm.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Animal welfare is an important concern across the European Union. However, although Europeans consider that standards have been improved, most of them think that further improvements are necessary. With this in mind, the EU-funded EconWelfare project was set up to provide suggestions for national and European policymakers. Together with stakeholder groups, the project aimed to collect and investigate policy options and their likely impacts.

The EconWelfare project has yielded a large number of results.The main project conclusion is that although the overall goal of animal welfare policy should be the same everywhere in the EU, it is unlikely to be achieved in similar ways, with equal speed and at the same time everywhere in the EU. This is due to differences in e.g. level of legislation, price competition, awareness of citizens and consumers, etc. But in addition to tailor-made solutions, there are also important EU wide policy options.

For example, EU wide legislation is important to set the lower boundaries for farm animal welfare, but these need to be enforced. Secondly, at farm level, there is a potential for improving both animal welfare and production efficiency, either by improving e.g. handling practices or adopting best practices. Thirdly, that the most successful existing welfare enhancing initiatives combine multiple goals with the use of multiple policy instruments and are developed in cooperation by multiple actors. Fourthly, that more transparency towards consumers and business-to-business is needed on animal welfare issues.

For impact, EconWelfare recommends the monitoring of animal welfare developments over time in Member States by a restricted set of animal-based indicators, as well as indicators at supply chain, society and institutional level. It also makes recommendations towards a European Network of Reference Centres (ENRC), which could support Member States and stakeholders in the different stages of animal welfare policy development.