Animal welfare in EU agriculture

In the absence of a conferred competence in animal welfare, harmonised EU welfare standards for animals in agriculture have been adopted on the legal basis for EU agriculture policy, and a tension exists between animals as products in agriculture and animals as sentient beings. Minimum welfare norms exist for laying hens, chickens, rearing calves and pigs, at slaughter and during transportation, with a generic farm directive, and the EU cooperates with the WOAH to adopt recommendations in animal welfare for terrestrial animals, in the context of agricultural trade. WOAH welfare standards prioritise the use of science-based, animal-based outcome measures. EU welfare standards, also based on science, require the input of resources to sustain the environmental and management conditions in which farm animal are raised, with welfare consequently monitored using animal-based outcome measures. Science and values are necessary to legitimise animal welfare standards, recognised by the CJEU sitting in Grand Chamber read in the light of Article 13 TFEU.