This week our Political Affairs Manager Joe Moran speaks with MEP Tilly Metz, President of the Parliamentary Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals and Chair of the Committee of Inquiry on the Protection of Animals during Transport. She filled us in on last month's vote in the European Parliament, how successful she feels the Committee was, why the European Commission needs to urgently revise the rules, and much more.

With a big year in Brussels coming to an end, we review the key moments of achievement for animals in 2021 with MEP Anja Hazekamp. From the European Commission’s promise to phase out cages for farmed animals to a vote in favour of a comprehensive plan to phase-out experiments on animals in the European Parliament, there's lots to discuss!

With large numbers of animals being sold in online marketplaces in Europe, both animals and consumers are at risk. The Digital Services Act could help tackle this issue through improved regulation of digital markets. We speak with Georgia Diamantopoulou, EU Companion Animal Policy Coordinator at Four Paws, and Maryant Fernandez Perez, a lawyer and Senior Digital Policy Officer at the European Consumer Organisation BEUC, about how this legislation could better protect consumers and animals.

Millions of animals pass through the wildlife trade every year, threatening their welfare, human health, and contributing to dramatic biodiversity loss.

More than 200 million working animals support the livelihoods of over 600 million people. With Dr Joe Collins from The Donkey Sanctuary, we explore what kind of roles horses, donkeys and other working equines perform in the EU and beyond. From Greece to China, we explore how crucial working equines can be to developing communities and how we can work to protect their welfare and empower those persons who work with them.

Tests on animals for cosmetic products and their ingredients were banned in Europe in 2009, but the EU Chemicals Regulation is driving new tests on animals even for ingredients that have long been proved safe for use. A new European Citizens’ Initiative, Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics, is aiming to protect the ban and take this further by calling for a concrete plan to transition to non-animal science in Europe.

As outlined in the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, there is an urgent need to shift towards more plant-based diets and alternative proteins in Europe in order to improve animal welfare, mitigate climate change and prevent biodiversity loss. We are joined by MEP Francisco Guerreiro to discuss the importance of transforming food systems in the EU, and how we can make that happen.

On 30 June, the European Commission committed to phase out cages in animal farming across the EU by 2027, making history for farm animals.How did we achieve this historic result?

The unseen and unfamiliar life of fish has given them low visibility in society, in policy circles, and in the animal welfare movement. Yet hundreds of billions of fish are farmed or caught each year for slaughter. We explore how we can define and improve fish welfare by studying their needs, and question if farmed fish or wild caught fish experience more welfare issues.

What is the scale of the exotic pet trade in Europe, and how can it be tackled? This week we speak with Eric van Tilburgh, a veterinarian and the Head of the Policy team of the Animal Welfare Division of the Flemish government in Belgium.

After the EU and India confirmed they will restart trade negotiations, we discuss how the European Union’s trade agreements can impact animals around the world.

This year, the EU Commission is considering a full review of animal welfare legislation. This presents a huge opportunity to make much needed changes.

The European Citizens' Initiative ‘End the Cage Age’, which has received over 1.4 million signatures, received a hearing last week in the European Parliament. The discussion was extremely promising, and we discuss how this ECI could and should move forward with MEP Eleonora Evi.

We discuss where we stand with regard to the uptake of non-animal research, the issues with the use of animal models, and how COVID-19 has affected this development.

This week we discuss the use of wild animals by circuses in the EU, why is this practice still permitted, and what is life like for an animal used as a performer?

COVID-19 is rapidly spreading amongst mink on fur farms in Europe. We talk about the public health risks, virus mutations and reservoirs, vaccinations for mink, and what we can do to prevent the situation getting worse.

To celebrate the launch of the World Federation for Animals, this week we will be discussing the exciting new initiative on our Animals in Europe podcast.Our host and CEO Reineke Hameleers will fill us in on how and why the WFA was formed with two of the fellow founding board members, Britta Riis and Wim de Kok. We also get an insight into the goals and ambitions of the federation, and what the WFA hopes to achieve for animals whilst representing the animal protection movement on the...

To celebrate the launch of our White Paper on the Transport Regulation revision, our Animals in Europe podcast theme this week is live animal transport. In this latest episode, our host and CEO Reineke Hameleers has a conversation with Maria Boada of member organisation Animal Welfare Foundation. Maria has extensive experience working on the ground with animals being transported, and offers a fascinating insight into the problems with the current legislation and enforcement. The conversation...

In the latest episode of our Animals in Europe podcast, our host and CEO Reineke Hameleers has an open conversation with Tilly Metz. Tilly is a Luxembourg MEP for the Greens party and a strong advocate for animals. She is one of the Vice-Presidents and an active member of the Animal Welfare Intergroup and has been recently been appointed as the chair of the Committee of Inquiry on the Protection of Animals during Transport. 

In this episode, our host and CEO of Eurogroup for Animals Reineke Hameleers has an open conversation with Ruud Zanders. Ruud is chairman of the Caring Farmers, an organization by and for farmers working on a different and more responsible food system.

Following the alarming news of the culling of Mink in Denmark, Eurogroup for Animals CEO talks to MEP Niels Fuglsang and Britta Riis from Dansh member Dyrenes Beskyttelse.Don't miss this important episode of our podcast.

What were the main highlights for animals last week at the European Parliament? Is change for animals on the horizon? What are the biggest political opportunities for animals during this political mandate? These are some of the questions our host and CEO Reineke Hameleers asks Anja Hazekamp MEP in our podcast. Biologist and animal advocate, Anja Hazekamp MEP started her political career with the Dutch Party for the Animals and last year she was appointed as President of the Intergroup on the...

For the first episode of Animals in Europe our host and CEO Reineke Hameleers interviews Philip Lymbery, CEO of Compassion in World Farming and President of Eurogroup for Animals.