Question écrite de
M. Martin BUSCHMANN
-
Commission européenne
Subject: EU subsidies for killing stations in Romania
It is already established in Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) that Member States are to pay full regard to the welfare of animals as they are ‘sentient beings’. And yet, this is not the reality for stray dogs in many parts of the European Union.
We know, for example, that killing animals is a lucrative business for a large number of Romanian companies.
As an EU Member State, Romania receives subsidies relating to a wide range of sectors. Part of this money goes towards waste and road space management – which includes ‘stray dog management’, whereby stray dogs are captured and killed in municipal facilities.
1. What is the Commission already doing to put an end to the killing of stray dogs in the European Union?
2. How is the Commission making sure that Article 13 TFEU is being fully implemented?
3. In the view of the Commission, what measures are needed to prevent, at least, EU funding from indirectly supporting the capture and killing of stray dogs in Romania (e.g. through dedicated funding for the expansion of castration centres)?
Submitted: 2.3.2023
Answer given by Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission
(23 April 2023)
1. Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) (1) focuses on the Union’s agriculture, fisheries, transport, internal market, research and technological development and space policies. As stray dog population management does not fall into any of these areas, it cannot be addressed at the Union level. It falls within the competence of the Member States to legislate and implement their rules in this area.
Nevertheless, the EU is working together with the World Organisation on Animal Health (WOAH) in the context of the WOAH Animal Welfare Platform for Europe and supports its capacity building activities. According to WOAH Terrestrial Cod e (2), euthanasia of stray dogs is allowed but should only be carried out humanely and in combination with other measures as part of a dog population management programme to achieve effective long-term management.
2. The Commission pays full regard to principles of the TFEU concerning the protection of animals in different policy areas outlined in Article 13.
3. As most of the EU budget funding to Romania is implemented in shared management, through cohesion policy funds, projects are selected and implemented by national authorities in line with horizontal and specific conditions defined in programmes. Implementation of programmes is regularly discussed in monitoring committees, including representatives of social and economic partners selected through transparent procedures, which also approve selection criteria and methodologies.
1 ∙ ⸱ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12016E/TXT&from=EN
2 ∙ ⸱ https://www.woah.org/en/what-we-do/standards/codes-and-manuals/terrestrial-code-online-access/?id=169&L=1&htmfile=chapitre_aw_stray_dog.htm ;
Chapter 7.7 on Dog population management (DPM).