EU prepares to outlaw caged-animal farming

It will have to be endorsed by all 27 member states and the European Parliament and will include a compensation package for farmers, the commission noted.

"Animals are sentient beings and we have a moral, societal responsibility to ensure that on-farm conditions for animals reflect this," EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said on Wednesday (30 June).

"A sustainable food system cannot exist without high animal welfare standards," agriculture commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski also said.

The bill comes after a citizens' petition that reached more than 1m signatures, obliging the EU to examine new legislation.

"Citizens' input can make a real difference ... We have heard the concerns of millions of people over the living conditions of farm animals and we will respond to it," EU values commissioner Věra Jourová noted.

The campaign group that led the petition, Compassion in World Farming, also celebrated the move.

"It feels like one of these moments in history when the tide is turning," Olga Kikou, the group's chief, said.

The initiative was signed by 1.4m people - the sixth one out of 81 launched over the years which made the 1m-threshold.

Some 300m animals in the EU still spend all or large amounts of their lives in cages so small they cannot do basic things, such as hop or turn around, Compassion in World Farming said.