Farm Animal Welfare

Pig Welfare and EU Farm Policy Reform

EU Common Agricultural Policy reform provides an opportunity to link subsidy payments to farm animal welfare outcomes. Progress is incremental but significant.

Key Facts

EU CAP reform 2023-2027 introduced animal welfare conditionalities for some subsidy payments
Animal welfare eco-schemes allow farmers to receive additional payments for higher welfare production
Several EU countries including Germany and Netherlands are introducing mandatory welfare labelling
EU welfare strategy 2020-2030 aims to replace existing animal welfare directives with comprehensive legislation
Consumer surveys consistently support using EU subsidy money to reward higher welfare farming

Welfare Considerations

EU farm policy welfare reform represents the highest-leverage opportunity for improving farm animal welfare in Europe - changing the subsidy system that shapes how 10 million farms operate. Incremental progress on welfare conditionalities and eco-schemes is building the precedent and political support needed for more comprehensive reform. Consumer support provides political justification for ambitious welfare-linked subsidy programs.

What You Can Do

Support campaigns for stronger welfare conditions in EU agricultural subsidy payments
Contact your MEP and national government about welfare-linked agricultural subsidy reform
Support food policy organizations working on EU animal welfare legislative reform
Learn about the connection between EU farm subsidies and farm animal welfare standards