Farming: 9 NGOs take the government, who insist on keeping laying hens in cages, to court.

Today, in the middle of the presidential campaign, 9 NGOs (the Anti-Corrida Alliance/Animal Cross/CIWF France/L214/the Foundation for Animal Law, Ethics, and Sciences (LFDA)/OABA/One Voice/the Society for the Protection of Animals (SPA)/Welfarm) are making a joint request before the State Council against the decree published in December 2021, which limits the ban enacted in 2018 for any new or refurbished buildings for hens farmed in cages. With this decree (obtained with great difficulty), the government effectively limits the ban only to buildings that are increasing their production capacity; existing buildings can be refurbished. By doing this, they are doing the exact opposite of the promises made by the President of the Republic at the beginning of their five-year term and the exact opposite of the cap set by the European Commission: they insist that France keeps its egg production potential from hens farmed in cages.

A five-year term…

In 2017, during his presidential campaign, Emmanuel Macron made “a commitment to banning the sale of eggs laid by battery hens before 2022”.

In Rungis, during his speech as President, he reiterated his commitment and promise that “eggs sold to consumers will only come from free-range farms by 2022”.

In 2018, the Egalim law meant that almost all of the amendments aiming to ban this farming system were wiped out. The only one that remains is the ban on new or refurbished buildings for caged hens. Moreover, this meagre step forward will remain uncertain since the Ministry of Agriculture will not issue an implementing decree.

On 27 May 2021, following a legal proceeding by CIWF France that was supported by the 8 other NGOs, the State Council insisted that the government publish a decree aiming to supervise these refurbishment projects for caged hens before 28 November 2021.

On 15 December 2021, the implementing decree for article L.214-11 of rural legislation was finally published.

… for that !

According to the decree, “a refurbishment of the building comprises:

1° Works or improvements to an existing building to make it suitable for farming using laying hens in cages;

2° Works or improvements to an existing building leading to an increase in the number of laying hens who can be kept there in cages. ”

In other words, the idea of the ‘refurbished’ building is interpreted in a restrictive way, in reality allowing the ban to be limited to only those buildings that increase their production capacity. The existing buildings can be refurbished.

9 NGOs have called on the President of the Republic not to betray his own commitments

This decree, obtained with great difficulty, is unacceptable and incomprehensible.

9 French NGOs, from the coalition that led to the historic success of the European Citizens’ Initiative “for an era without cages”, are filing a joint request before the State Council.

This decree does not conform to the commitments reiterated by the President of the Republic

This decree does not conform to the wishes of the legislator. The 9 NGOs accuse this decree of violating the legislative text passed in November 2018 by restricting its scope.

This decree goes against the wishes of 90% of French people. European citizens are equally as unfavourable to these outdated farming systems. 1.4 million of us have signed a citizens’ initiative to put an end to caged farming.

Finally, this decree opposes the one set by the European Commission, who has listened to its citizens, and anticipates that regulations will be implemented by 2023 to gradually put an end to caged farming (with a target date of 2027).

Is the end to caged hen farming announced by the President a false promise?

Five years after the campaign’s promises, and even though he is about to enter into a new campaign and chairs the EU Council, President Emmanuel Macron does not show the European Union a way forward on cages. We are calling for the current President of the Republic and the one to follow to stop opposing change in France regarding caged farming and laying hens.

Translated from the French by Joely Justice