EU law on animal welfare and its correct and effective application

With the support and co-operation of the member States, the EU institutions have been promoting animal welfare for more than forty years. The aim of the EU policy on animal welfare is to reconcile the interests of the various actors on the market with the interest of ‘individual’ animals to improve the quality of their lives and to avoid their pain and suffering. The first part of this article outlines, in general terms, the EU policy on animal welfare, focusing also on its ‘constitutional aspects’ and, in particular, on the newly introduced article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), expressly dealing with animal welfare and on its interpretation by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The second part of the article deals with the new initiatives of the Commission on animal welfare. Some conclusive remarks follow.