Leading by example? Not just yet

Although the focus on animal welfare tends to be on farmed and laboratory animals, endangered species and wild animals are also included in EU policy and legislation.

Specific areas have been tackled at EU level to address particular concerns. In 1995 a directive banned the use of leg-hold traps, which are used to trap animals such as wolves or muskrats, either for their fur or to combat pests. Imports of animal pelts from countries which did not ban this type of trap were also prohibited, leading to agreements with the US, Canada and Russia on the outlawing of leg-hold traps there.

The 1999 zoos directive required member states to set up a system of licensing and inspection of zoos by 2002. The law sets down minimum conditions for zoos, but specifications on space for animals, which were proposed at the time, were not included. While acknowledging that improvement in the care and housing of animals should get better over the years because of the directive, a report from the Eurogroup for Animal Welfare last March pointed out that "the licensing process of zoos seems to be considerably delayed in the majority of the countries and the procedures involved in this licensing are not at all clear. Harmonised standards and detailed criteria would be very advisable in the EU as well as the development of an effective enforcement strategy".

The EU also becomes involved when a pressing issue arises. The illegal trade in caviar from the Caspian Sea mostly ends up in EU member states and so the European Commission has been trying to find ways of stopping the trade through law enforcement bodies.

The broader policy issue for the EU mostly involves the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) regulating the trade of wild animals and plants. Though the EU as a body didn't sign the convention, as member states individually became signatories, it is involved in its promotion and implementation. The agreement is based on permits which are given if certain conditions are met when animals leave one country and enter another. Dirk Hendricks of the International Fund for Animal Welfare believes the regulations set down in CITES are adequate, but that the task is to ensure implementation. The EU is in an ideal position to demand implementation of the convention and other standards in animal welfare, Hendricks says. "When the EU and China go to sign trade agree-ments, for example, it would be useful if the EU could take animal welfare into account," he adds.

One Commission official said that this was not always possible: "We are taking on many issues in a proactive role but there are limits and some considerations. We try but if there is no go then we need to compromise."

Although the focus on animal welfare tends to be on farmed and laboratory animals, endangered species and wild animals are also included in EU policy and legislation.