Summary Description
- Recognises animal sentience and imposes a duty on the EU and national governments to take into account the welfare of animals.
- TopicThe topic of the legislation or policy covered by the text
- AgricultureAnimal welfareRecognition of sentienceWild-caught fishing
- SpeciesThe animal, or type of food production, covered by the text
- All animals
- JurisdictionCountry or geographical area where the text applies
- EU
- Sub-jurisdictionCountry or state where the text applies
- N/A
- Type of ActWhether the act is a law, regulation, or policy, or another type of text
- Constitutional treaty
- StatusIndicates whether the act is in force or not
- In force
- Legal ValueWhether the text is binding or not
- Binding
- Date enactedDate the text was adopted
- 2007
- Date updatedDate when the entry was last updated by the CALF team
- June, 2023
- Official citation
- Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Community, Dec. 13, 2007, 2007 O.J. (C 306)54 (E.U.)
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Strengths
- Recognises animals as "sentient beings."
- Imposes a duty on the EU and national governments to take into account the welfare of animals when formulating and implementing laws in certain policy areas.
- Weaknesses
- This provision only provides a limited list of policies in which the governments must take into account animal welfare, although it does not prevent other policy areas from taking animal welfare into account.
- Translations into different languages than English refer to an animal's ability to feel pain (rather than sentience).