EUROPEAN MANIFESTO LAUNCHED IN MALTA TO END LONG-DISTANCE LIVE ANIMAL TRANSPORT AND TO RESPECT EU CITIZENS’ RIGHTS.
MALTESE EU COMMISSIONER JOHN DALLI CRITICISED BY MEPs, NGOs AND ELECTORS FOR WIDENING THE GAP BETWEEN CITIZENS AND EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS.
MILLIONS OF ANIMALS IN EUROPE ARE SUFFERING AS A RESULT OF EMPTY WORDS AND POLITICAL GAMES.
EU CITIZENS AND ORGANISATIONS CALLED UPON TO JOIN INITIATIVE FOR DEMOCRACY AND ANIMAL WELFARE.
With Dan Jørgensen, opening the conference ‘Animal Suffering in Long-Distance Transport: Ask John Dalli’ – Valletta, Malta 2012 (Photo: Niels Fuglsang)
International speakers and Maltese citizens convened in Valletta last Friday at the conference ‘Animal Suffering in Long-Distance Transport: Ask John Dalli’ to share data on long-distance live animal transport in Europe, and to urge EU Commissioner John Dalli of Malta to back down on his refusal to act in accordance with his duty to protect animal welfare in Europe.
Millions of live animals are transported over long distances on European roads, sometimes for several days, only to be killed on arrival. This huge amount of suffering can easily be avoided by killing the animals in the nearest slaughterhouse to the farm and then transporting their meat and carcasses.
The organisers were pleased to learn that Mr Dalli had accepted their invitation to speak at the conference, and his arrival was greeted with applause from participants. Unfortunately, however, his departure was accompanied by silence, after he had confirmed that he had no intention of proposing a review of the rules on transport, despite the wealth of information available that shows that some of the present rules have not been enforced for over 15 years and some are impossible to enforce.
Mr Dalli used some colourful and essentially hollow expressions (e.g. he said he is adopting a ‘holistic approach’), but he has proposed no concrete action, which makes him the first Commissioner for years who has refused even to try to propose changes to ineffective and unenforceable rules which cause suffering to so many animals.
On 15 March 2012, the European Parliament adopted Written Declaration 49/2011 – signed by 395 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) – which calls on the EU institutions to establish a maximum 8-hour limit on the journeys of animals transported for the purpose of slaughter.
On 7 June, representatives of over 100 European animal welfare NGOs and MEPs across the political spectrum handed in 1,103,248 signatures to Mr Dalli, who is the EU Commissioner responsible for animal welfare in the European Union.
In front of the cameras, Mr Dalli announced that “by 2014 the Commission will publish a legislative proposal”, which would include live transport and transport times. On the same occasion, he admitted that “some species of animals require a much lower figure than 8 hours”.
A few days later, Mr Dalli denied that he had ever promised a review of the rules on transport, and had his staff affirm that enforcement of the present rules was enough. Some of those rules have been in place for over 20 years and have never been enforced. Mr Dalli has provided no explanation as to why such rules would start to be enforced now.
There were embarrassing moments at the conference in Valletta, when Mr Dalli restated that he had never made such affirmations. The video clip was then shown again, but despite this incontrovertible evidence Mr Dalli still managed to repeat his claim that he had never said such things.
Danish MEP Dan Jørgensen then cited a letter in which ten MEPs complained to Mr Dalli because he had tried to deny the even more explicit affirmations he had made in front of them before the petition hand-in.
The 8hours campaign was launched jointly by Animals’ Angels – an international organisation which has documented hundreds of cases of severe suffering endured by animals transported on long-distance journeys – together with Danish MEP Dan Jørgensen. The aim of the initiative is to limit the transport of animals for the purpose of slaughter to no longer than 8 hours.
Some of the norms contained in the present legislation cannot possibly be enforced. In some cases, scientific evidence is available which according to the present rules should prompt an immediate review of Regulation 1/2005.
A full-page advert was published before the Valletta conference in The Times of Malta – the main newspaper in Mr Dalli’s home country – informing the public that “John Dalli is disregarding the suffering of millions of animals and the voice of European citizens”. It ended by asking Maltese electors “to remember what is happening when you vote in future elections”.
“Bold statements with no action are what we continue to receive from Commissioner Dalli”, said Christa Blanke, Founder and Director of Animals’ Angels. “This is both terrible for the animals and insulting for all EU citizens and their elected representatives in the European Parliament, whose demands are treated as an irrelevant nuisance by Mr Dalli. Mr Dalli is trying to portray himself as a very dedicated person in his approach on live transport but the reality is that, behind mountains of buzz-words, holistic approaches and electoral rhetoric, he is refusing to tackle the real problem that affects millions of animals transported over long distances in Europe: the length of journeys. Animals suffer while Mr Dalli plays his political games. We cannot accept this behaviour, either as people concerned for the welfare of animals or as conscientious citizens”.
“395 Members of the European Parliament and over one million EU citizens are asking Mr Dalli to simply do his duty, and in fact what he proposed on 7 June: produce a proposal for the change of the existing rules on live animal transport which contains limitations to transport time”, said Danish MEP Dan Jørgensen. “Mr Dalli can try to depict himself in the media as very active on this issue, but the reality is that unlike his predecessors he is refusing to take real action. This is not only prolonging the suffering of millions of animals but widening the gap between the EU institutions and the EU citizens whose voice is treated as utterly irrelevant by Mr Dalli. We invite individuals and organisations to join the Manifesto of Malta, which aims to bring together all those really concerned – not just with empty expressions – for animal welfare and democracy in Europe”.
A draft of the Manifesto of Malta was submitted to the conference participants for discussion and then launched at the end of the day. It will be circulated widely in the coming weeks, gathering the support of citizens, MEPs and organisations that care about animal welfare and the respect of citizens’ rights in Europe. It makes an appeal to the European institutions, asking that this gap between them and the EU citizens be filled by real action against long-distance live animal transport. It asks Commissioner John Dalli to honour his role as EU Commissioner in charge of animal welfare and to end his opposition to real progress on the welfare of transported animals. And it asks the Maltese political parties and electors to condemn Mr Dalli’s refusal to act against long-distance live animal transport, and to take these events into consideration when they vote in future elections.
