As the first Brussels-based think-and-do tank specializing in animal law & policy, our mission is to advance the interests of animals in the EU.

The European Institute for Animal Law & Policy advocates for animals at EU and national levels. We also work with other nonprofits and public administrations to help them achieve better treatment for animals.

Our mission is to guide all parties involved in animal-related rule-making, whether in legislation and regulations, private standards, or non-written common industry practices.

Our expertise focuses on non-human animals used for all types of exploitative purposes: food and fiber, entertainment, science, and companionship, as well as wild animals, which are increasingly harvested as commodities.

The Institute nurtures non-violent solutions that alleviate suffering and exploitation. We also support the development of animal law as an autonomous legal and academic discipline.

what we do

The European Institute for Animal Law & Policy advocates for animals by employing a wide variety of evidence-based and effective methods.

The Institute's work is based on top-notch legal research.

We also offer these services in French and English, under the form of hourly consultations and weekly to monthly research projects.

The Institute relies on strategic expertise to achieve legal and regulatory reforms for animals.

The Institute also works with partners to assist them with their advocacy needs.

The Institute’s core mission is to empower its partners through training and education.

Our goal is to make animal protection organizations aware of how central the EU institutions are in shaping laws and regulations affecting the treatment of animals, and increase the animal protection movement's effectiveness and impact in the EU.

We provide monitoring services to EU Public Affairs professionals under the form of a newsletter.

Our targeted updates include ongoing and prospective public consultations, court rulings (European Court of Justice, European Court of Human Rights, and national courts when relevant to EU law), scientific publications, industry and NGO campaigns, and calls for contributions to publications or events.

areas of work

  • The treatment of animals for food purposes in law and policy, including EU animal welfare legislation, the EU Green Deal and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
  • Animal welfare standards in voluntary certifications, such as the EU Organic and the EU Quality Signs regulations
  • The regulation of consumer information pertaining to the treatment of farm animals used as ingredients for food production, such as front-of-pack labeling
  • The treatment of animals for fiber purposes in law and policy
  • Regulation of the production and commercialization of alternatives to conventionally-farmed animal source products (plant-based and cell-based)
  • Efforts to contain and combat legal exemptions (including common industry practices and traditions)

  • The legal treatment of animals used for scientific purposes
  • The regulation of alternatives to in vivo models
  • The EU and Member States policies to phase out animal-based science

  • The legal treatment of wild animals in captivity for entertainment purposes (zoos, circuses, film industry, etc.)
  • The legal treatment of animals used in traditions and rites (bullfighting, cockfighting, ritual slaughter, etc.)

  • Laws and policies to curb biodiversity extinction
  • Laws and policies to combat wildlife trafficking
  • The laws and regulation regarding private ownership of wild animals
  • The legal treatment of so-called “invasive species”
  • Hunting laws

  • International law and policy instruments regulating the treatment of animals as tradable goods and natural ressources (UN Conventions, OIE Codes, Free Trade Agreements, etc.)
  • World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and relevant interpretation of WTO agreements by the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body, and their articulation with EU and national laws

news & updates

“Inside Big Ag’s plot to kill the EU Green Deal”

Our Legislative Advocacy Manager, Gabriela Kubíková, has been quoted in an article by Zach Boren, “Inside Big Ag’s plot to kill the EU Green Deal”. The article reveals how Copa Cogeca, the federation of European farming interests, undermined and pushed back against the EU’s green farming commitments – including by using delay tactics to slow the lawmaking process.

© Tom de Decker

“EU Livestock Strategy revives cage-free farming push as Brussels targets protein security”

We’re one of the NGOs included in Food Ingredients First’s coverage of the Livestock Strategy. “The European Institute for Animal Law & Policy struck a […] cautious tone,” they write. “It noted that the strategy “creates no legal obligations” by itself and that the cage phase-out is not yet dated. Still, it welcomed the fact that there are now concrete dates for legislative proposals.”

A sow and her piglets in a farrowing crate at a farm in Italy. (Stefano Belacchi, We Animals; 2011, Italy)

What does the ‘Livestock’ Strategy really mean for animals?

The European Commission revealed its Livestock Strategy today, adding yet another document to the Commission’s announced reforms for farmed animals. But announcements alone will not improve the lives of animals. We will continue the fight, with other animal advocates and concerned citizens, to make sure the Commission follows through on today’s announced reforms.

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