Alice Di Concetto on why EU animal welfare reforms failed (and what we can do next)

How I Learned to Love Shrimp

The EU is one of the most important institutions in the world. They had amazingly ambitious plans to transform the lives of the billions of farmed animals in the EU which sadly, were put on hold last year. Today, we speak to an expert in EU animal welfare policy, Alice Di Concetto from the European Institute for Animal Law & Policy, about what happened, what animal advocates might hope to win in the next few years and how we might improve our lobbying efforts.

Resources:

• European Institute for Animal Law & Policy website
• Animals in the EU Agricultural Policy, European Institute for Animal Law & Policy (2021).
• Recent Developments in EU Animal Law & Policy: 2019 – 2024 in Review, The European Institute for Animal Law & Policy (2025).
• You can find this research note and this special report, as well as all of our publications online at: https://animallaweurope.org/publications/
• Alice Di Concetto, The Double Edged Sword : International Law and Its Effects on EU Farm Animal Welfare Legislation, Global Journal of Animal Law, Special Issue: Internal Law and Animal Health and Protection: Persistent Themes, New Prospects for Change, v. 10, n. 2. Available online: https://journal.fi/gjal/issue/view/11222
• Coller Foundation, Advocating for Animals: A Guide to Legislative Advocacy (2022), available online: https://calf.law/legislative-advocacy-guides
• Kraftwerk
• Franz Kafka (especially the unfinished works)
• The Institute’s Newsletter
• Rethink Priorities: EU Farmed Animal Policy – Strategic Assessment

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Chapters

1. Trade Tensions and Animal Welfare Standards (00:00:00)

2. Discussing Failed EU Animal Welfare Reforms (00:02:07)

3. Corporate Campaigns: A Change of Mind (00:09:53)

4. EU Policy Challenges and Lobbying Dynamics (00:15:46)

5. Future of EU Animal Welfare Policy (00:26:17)

6. Cage-Free Progress and Trade Restrictions (00:35:35)

7. Animal Ethics vs Environmental Ethics (00:43:14)

8. Netherlands' Ban on Chick Culling (00:54:28)