500,000 SIGN TO PROPOSE NEW LAW TO BAN FUR FARMS
THE EUROPEAN CITIZENS INITIATIVE TO BAN FUR FARMS ACROSS THE EUROPEAN UNION HAS 50 % OF THE NAMES NEEDED TO BECOME REALITY
The European Citizens ’ Initiative ( ECI ) that is calling on the Commission to introduce an EU-wide ban on keeping and killing animals for the purpose of fur production has now hit 50 % of the signatures they need to potentially change the law .
This week the ECI hit 500,000 individual signatures needing to get the same amount again by May 2023 .
National thresholds have been reached in EU major fur production countries Finland , Poland , Lithuania , relevant production countries Sweden , Bulgaria and Denmark , former production country Netherlands as well as in Germany and Slovakia . Latvia , France and Greece expected to follow soon .
Since the ECI ´ s inception , only six initiatives have hit the one million signatories to be submitted to the Commission . And of those , only two were followed by the adoption of a legislative proposal by the European Commission , addressing them solely as “ subgoals ” of the respective ECIs .
However , one key animal welfare issue , End the Cage Age ECI , was legally successful and the proposal by the end of 2023 to phase out , and finally prohibit , the use of cage systems for domestic farm animals across the European Union .
“ The European Commission needs to take note and begin to get ready for this proposal , as it will meet the numbers needed . As President von der Leyen promised in her State of the Union address the animal welfare legislation revision will be one her and the Commissions priority over the upcoming year , the ECI will go hand in hand with meeting those requirements and promises .”
Background
The ECI Fur Free Europe was officially registered by the European Commission on 16 / 03 / 2022 and will run from 18 / 05 / 2022 for one year . The ECI was submitted by a group of citizens from 7 EU Member States . It aims to achieve an EU-wide ban on the keeping and killing of animals for the sole or main purpose of fur production , as well as placing farmed animal fur , and products containing such fur , on the EU market .
The European Union is one of the main regions for fur production globally . Every year millions of animals ( mainly mink , foxes and raccoon dogs ) are legally confined in small wire mesh cages and killed to produce unnecessary , easily replaceable fur articles . The mission is to end this cruel practice by introducing an EU-wide prohibition of fur farming .
November / December 2022 | MORE THAN A PET | 7