This week’s high-profile conference hosted under the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU, Welfare of Farm Animals in the EU of 2050: A Pathway to the Future, was presented as a strategic moment to set direction for Europe’s animal welfare policies in the decades ahead. While the event brought together a wide range of stakeholders in an engaging setting, it avoided addressing the urgent challenges facing farmed animals across the continent.
Although speakers addressed familiar themes, such as productivity, competitiveness, labelling, market returns and societal acceptability, the discussion tended to stay within the narrow frame of animal farming economics. In some of the speeches/statements delivered at the conference, the welfare of animals often remained in the background, with industry-oriented perspectives dominating the discussion. A clear and forward-looking vision for the next 25 years is very much needed to ensure that animal welfare remains a central pillar of the EU policy in the decades ahead.
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This lack of ambition is especially troubling given the current political landscape. Animal welfare is missing from the European Commission’s 2026 Work Programme, despite years of public commitments to revise outdated legislation. The long-promised proposal to ban cages for laying hens, initially expected much earlier, is now only tentatively announced for the end of next year, with no clarity on scope or timelines. Civil society, scientists and millions of EU citizens have repeatedly called for a comprehensive, binding overhaul of welfare rules. Yet, any plans remain vague and it remains to be seen whether the conference discussions will push the institutions toward the decisive action animals urgently need.
Meanwhile, the reality on farms has not changed. Hundreds of millions of animals in the EU continue to live in industrial systems that restrict movement, prevent natural behaviours and cause long-term physical and psychological suffering. Beyond the clear scientific evidence and the overwhelming public support for reform, there is also an additional ethical imperative that is often ignored.
Europe should move beyond soft commitments. It needs a concrete roadmap to end cages, restrict cruel practices, improve species-specific standards, ensure meaningful enforcement and support farmers in transitioning to genuinely higher welfare systems. Anything else risks becoming a convenient distraction, a way to signal progress while avoiding difficult decisions.
We would like to see the EU address the challenges animals face today, not in 2050, and move to science and citizen-driven policies because their welfare deserves immediate action.