Legal and political context

Content taken from the “Animal welfare: science to inform public policy” dossier

Since the 1970s, modern breeding, transport and slaughter techniques have been governed by regulations designed, among other things, to protect farm animals. Under the impetus of animal protection associations in particular, these regulations were enshrined in France’s Code rural, and in Europe with the introduction of the first dedicated directives. Europe soon organised itself to include science in the debate on animal protection and in the drafting of directives.

Since the 1980s, some fifteen European directives on animal welfare have been implemented. The first, establishing “minimum standards of protection” for farm animals, was promulgated in 1986 and concerned battery hens (Directive 86/113/EEC). Equivalent directives followed for pigs in 1991 (Directive 91/630/EEC) and veal in 1997 (Directive 97/2/EC). In the same year, the Treaty of Amsterdam included the protection and welfare of animals as sentient beings for the first time in an annex (Protocol 33). In 1998, the first European directive “concerning the protection of animals kept for farming purposes” came into force (Directive 98/58/EC). The Lisbon Treaty, which currently governs the workings of the European Union, officially makes animal welfare a constituent and fundamental issue of the EU, with Article 13 on the protection of “the welfare of animals as sentient beings”.

European legislation imposes minimum requirements, which are easier to monitor. It was the 2007 directive “laying down minimum rules for the protection of chickens kept for meat production” (Directive 2007/43/EC), which for the first time called for an obligation of result.

The first European directives have since been amended and are currently being updated for 2023/2024.

In 2012, the European Union launched the Strategy for the Protection and Welfare of Animals (2012-2015), encouraging Member States to set up animal welfare reference centres. The aim is to promote incentives to facilitate the application of regulations, better dissemination of knowledge and innovations, and easier access to training.

As early as 2014, the French public authorities included the project to create a reference centre for animal welfare in the Law on the Future of Agriculture. The National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (CNR BEA), created by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2017, is the first action of France’s Animal Welfare Strategy (2016-2020).

CNR BEA receives an annual grant from the Ministry of Agriculture. Its actions are primarily aimed at public authorities, public and private R&D bodies, all upstream and downstream animal sectors and animal protection associations. All these players are brought together in an advisory committee. CNR BEA’s aim is to support the French animal production industry in changing practices that are more respectful of animal welfare and to support public policies in this area, in line with European guidelines. Its mission is to promote and disseminate knowledge and innovations, provide technical and scientific expertise to inform public policy, and promote training in animal welfare.

The AgriBEA and RMT-BEA networks have supported the law reforming the legal status of animals in the Civil Code (2015) and the first French Animal Welfare Strategy supported by the Ministry of Agriculture.

In response to public demand for greater consideration to be given to animal welfare, in 2016 the Ministry of Agriculture and Food introduced France’s first Animal Welfare Strategy (2016-2020). This commitment was reinforced by a plan of 20 priority actions structured into 7 objectives:

– Knowledge and innovation, to adapt to a changing world;

– Make professionals the key players in the well-being of their animals;

– Continue to develop animal welfare practices;

– Reaffirm the need to protect animals at the slaughterhouse;

– Supporting farmers in serious difficulty and making up for shortcomings in care;

– Combat the abandonment of pets and hobby animals;

– Doing the right thing and letting people know about it.

This strategy has been drawn up jointly by the CNOPSAV (Conseil national d’orientation de la politique sanitaire et végétale), which brings together scientists, in particular from INRAE, livestock farming representatives and animal protection associations. It is part of the agro-ecological policy for sustainable livestock farming. While the measures put in place mainly concern farm animals, they also target companion animals, the equine sector and animals used for scientific purposes.

At present, the Ministry has relaunched new consultations between all stakeholders to implement a new national strategy for the next five years.

INRAE’s scientific needs and contributions

Content from the “Animal welfare: science to inform public policy” dossier

Although animal welfare is now a pressing expectation in our societies, the issue first came to the fore in the 1960s as a reaction to the intensive farming conditions developed to optimise practices and increase economic profitability at the expense of animals. It was in the 1980s, under the impetus of a few pioneering researchers, that the issue of animal welfare began to be taken into account at INRAE. The need for scientific and technical knowledge on these new research questions led to the creation in the 90s of a multidisciplinary scientific community around the concept of animal welfare (BEA) at INRAE. The work carried out by this community has earned it international recognition for nearly thirty years and has contributed to the implementation of national and European regulations and public policies.

In order to introduce new standards and less restrictive farming practices for animals, it was necessary to gain a better understanding of stress in farm animals. Specific research into animal behaviour and the physiology of stress was therefore encouraged. There was a considerable need for scientific knowledge of the behavioural capacities of farm animals, as the science of animal behaviour mainly concerned wild and laboratory animals.

At the request of the French and European public authorities, INRAE coordinated two collective scientific assessments (ESCo), one on animal pain and the other on animal consciousness.

Supported by INRAE, CNR BEA brings together those involved in animal welfare research, development and training […] CNR BEA receives an annual grant from the French Ministry of Agriculture. Its activities are primarily aimed at public authorities, public and private R&D bodies, all upstream and downstream animal sectors and animal protection associations. All these players are brought together in an advisory committee. CNR BEA’s aim is to support the French animal production industry in changing its practices in a way that is more respectful of animal welfare and to support public policies in this area, in line with European guidelines. Its mission is to promote and disseminate knowledge and innovations, provide technical and scientific expertise to inform public policy, and promote training in animal welfare.