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, and we provide expert research, training, public affairs, and monitoring services to 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.

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what we do

The European Institute for Animal Law & Policy provides advocacy organization with the highest-quality service to bolster the animal protection movement in Europe and beyond.

The Institute provides top-notch legal research services in French and English, under the form of hourly consultations and weekly to monthly research projects.

Deliverables are tailored to our partners’ needs. Formats include memoranda, reports, white papers, and oral presentation.

The Institute provides strategic expertise to assist partners in implementing legal and regulatory reforms.

We identify upcoming reform opportunities and map out relevant actors (“stakeholders”) whose actions can affect lawmaking. We then connect our partners to our vast network of professionals within the industry and the EU institutions.

The Institute also advises partners in building advocacy pleas and pitching them to stakeholders.

The Institute’s core mission is to empower its partners through training and education. Training solutions are custom-made, for all levels and all group sizes.
Available courses include animal law and European law classes for all levels, as well as practical sessions that would teach professionals how to navigate the EU institutions and its law-making process.

Our goal is to make our partners more performant in their daily work in the short term, and fully autonomous in the longer term.

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

  • Policy news

AGRI Committee votes on first-ever EU rules on welfare of dogs and cats

  • 04 June 2025

Yesterday the European Parliament’s AGRI Committee voted for the proposed “Regulation on the welfare of dogs and cats and their traceability” by 35 to 2, approving legislation that, for the first time in the history of EU law, will establish animal welfare standards for breeders and sellers of cats and dogs, mandate microchipping and registration as part of the sales process, and strengthen regulations to reduce the risks of illegal trafficking.

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  • Policy news

A dire day for wolves

  • 08 May 2025

Grey wolves in Europe can no longer rely on strict protection under the Habitats Directive after a vote by MEPs today to downgrade them to “protected.”

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© Federico Di Dio photography
  • Policy news

Brussels at a Standstill: The Fight Over Animal Transport Rules

  • 06 May 2025

It’s a bleak time for animals this Parliamentary term—but one glimmer of hope has been the long-overdue revision of the EU’s outdated live transport rules. After years of horror stories and policy inaction, it finally looked as if meaningful reform was on the table.

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Photo: Havva Zorlu / We Animals
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