EU launches animal welfare platform

The European Commission has announced the launch of a group to help scientists, governments and regulators cooperate on improving animal welfare.

The EU Platform on Animal Welfare kicked off with a meeting today chaired by the EU’s health and food safety commissioner Vytenis Andruikaitis. It is an effort to foster trust and understanding between different parties and will not aim to develop legislation, the Commission said.

The platform will meet twice a year and will bring together 75 representatives from science groups, non-governmental organisations, governments and the European Food Safety Authority. Forty of its members have been appointed by the Commission’s directorate-general for health and food safety following a round of applications, while 35 have been selected from public institutions.