Danske Svineproducenter v Justitsministeriet.

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• ECLI: ECLI:EU:C:2011:863
• Date: 21 December 2011
• Celex Number: 62010CJ0316
• Court: Court of Justice (European Union)
• Procedure Type: Reference for a preliminary ruling
• Docket Number: C-316/10

Case C-316/10

Danske Svineproducenter

v

Justitsministeriet

(Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Vestre Landsret)

(Second paragraph of Article 288 TFEU – Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 – Protection of animals during transport – Transport by road of domestic animals of the porcine species – Minimum height of compartments – Inspection during a journey – Loading density – Right of Member States to adopt detailed standards)

Summary of the Judgment

1. Agriculture – Approximation of laws – Protection of animals during transport – General conditions applicable – Internal height of compartments

(Council Regulation No 1/2005)

2. Agriculture – Approximation of laws – Protection of animals during transport – General conditions applicable – Regular checks on the welfare conditions of animals during transport

(Council Regulation No 1/2005)

3. Agriculture – Approximation of laws – Protection of animals during transport – General conditions applicable – Floor area available per animal

(Council Regulation No 1/2005)

1. Regulation No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations does not preclude the adoption, by a Member State, of standards applicable to the transport by road of pigs which, in order to strengthen legal certainty, define, in accordance with the objective of protecting the welfare of animals and without laying down any excessive criteria in that regard, the requirements provided for by that regulation as regards the minimum internal height of compartments intended for animals, provided that those standards do not result in additional costs or technical difficulties which disadvantage either producers in the Member State which has adopted those standards or producers from other Member States who wish to export their goods to or via that first Member State, that being a matter for the national court to determine taking into account the criteria generally accepted, in accordance with Regulation No 1/2005, by Member States other than that which laid down the standards in question. More stringent transitional standards relating to the minimum internal height of compartments for journeys of more than eight hours of pigs weighing over 40 kg cannot, however, be regarded as proportionate since the same Member State has adopted less restrictive standards under the system of general law.

(see paras 59-60, 68, operative part)

2. Regulation No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations precludes the adoption, by a Member State, of standards applicable to the transport by road of pigs defining in greater detail the requirements provided for by that regulation in respect of access to animals in order to check regularly their welfare conditions, which relate only to journeys of more than eight hours’ duration.

Unlike the position under the system established by Directive 91/628 and Regulation No 411/98, the provisions of Regulation No 1/2005 relating to the inspection of animals during a journey are applicable to all means of transport, irrespective of the journey time.

(see paras 62, 68, operative part)

3. Regulation No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations does not preclude the adoption, by a Member State, of standards according to which, when pigs are transported by road, the animals must have a minimum surface area which varies according to their weight, that surface area being, for a 100 kg animal, 0.42 m² where the journey time is less than eight hours and 0.50 m² for journeys of more than eight hours.

(see para. 68, operative part)

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (Third Chamber)

21 December 2011 (*)

(Second paragraph of Article 288 TFEU – Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 – Protection of animals during transport – Transport by road of domestic animals of the porcine species – Minimum height of compartments – Inspection during a journey – Loading density – Right of Member States to adopt detailed standards)

In Case C‑316/10,

REFERENCE for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Vestre Landsret (Denmark), made by decision of 28 June 2010, received at the Court on 1 July 2010, as corrected by decision of 24 August 2010, received at the Court on 26 August 2010, in the proceedings

Danske Svineproducenter

v

Justitsministeriet,

intervener:

Union européenne du commerce de bétail et de la viande,

THE COURT (Third Chamber),

composed of K. Lenaerts, President of the Chamber, J. Malenovský, R. Silva de Lapuerta, E. Juhász and D. Šváby (Rappporteur), Judges,

Advocate General: Y. Bot,

Registrar: A. Impellizzeri, Administrator,

having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 15 September 2011,

after considering the observations submitted on behalf of:

– Danske Svineproducenter, by H. Sønderby Christensen, advokat,

– Union européenne du commerce de bétail and de la viande, by J.-F. Bellis, A. Bailleux, avocats, and E. Werlauff, advokat,

– the Danish Government, by V. Pasternak Jørgensen, acting as Agent, assisted by P. Biering, advokat,

– the European Commission, by B. Schima and H. Støvlbæk, acting as Agents,

having decided, after hearing the Advocate General, to proceed to judgment without an Opinion,

gives the following

Judgment

1 This reference for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of the second paragraph of Article 288 TFEU, of Article 3, second paragraph, points (f) and (g) and Article 37 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 of 22 December 2004 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations and amending Directives 64/432/EEC and 93/119/EC and Regulation (EC) No 1255/97 (OJ 2005 L 3, p. 1), and of Chapter II, points 1.1.(f) and 1.2., and Chapter VII, Part D, of Annex I to Regulation No 1/2005.

2 The reference has been made in proceedings between Danske Svineproducenter, a professional body of Danish pig producers, and the Justitsministeriet (Ministry of Justice) concerning, inter alia, the compatibility with Regulation No 1/2005 of supplementary national legislation seeking to define in greater detail, as regards certain matters, the application of that regulation, such as Order No 1729 of 21 December 2006 on the protection of animals during transport (bekendtgørelse om beskyttelse af dyr under transport, Lovtidende 2006 A) (‘Order No 1729/2006’), and the conformity of various provisions of that order with Regulation No 1/2005.

Legal context

European Union Law

Regulation No 1/2005

3 Recitals 2, 6, 8, 10 and 11 in the preamble to Regulation No 1/2005 state:

‘(2) Under Council Directive 91/628/EEC of 19 November 1991 on the protection of animals during transport [and amending Directives 90/425/EEC and 91/496/EEC (OJ 1991 L 340, p. 17), as amended by Council Directive 95/29/EC of 29 June 1995 (OJ 1995 L 148, p. 52), (“Directive 91/628”)], the Council has adopted rules in the field of the transport of animals in order to eliminate technical barriers to trade in live animals and to allow market organisations to operate smoothly, while ensuring a satisfactory level of protection for the animals concerned.

…

(6) The Council invited the Commission on 19 June 2001 … to submit proposals for ensuring effective implementation and strict enforcement of existing Community legislation, improving the protection and welfare of animals as well as preventing the occurrence and spread of infectious animal diseases, and putting in place more stringent requirements so as to prevent pain and suffering in order to safeguard the welfare and health of animals during and after transport.

…

(8) The Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare adopted an opinion on the welfare of animals during transport on 11 March 2002. Community legislation should therefore be amended to take into account new scientific evidence while giving priority to the need for its enforceability to be properly ensured in the immediate future.

…

(10) In the light of experience gained under Directive [91/628] in harmonising Community legislation on the transport of animals, and the difficulties encountered due to the differences in transposition of that Directive at national level, it is more appropriate to set out Community rules in this field in a regulation. Pending the adoption of detailed provisions for certain species having particular needs and representing a very limited part of the Community livestock, it is appropriate to allow Member States to establish or maintain additional national rules applying to transport of animals of such species.

(11) In order to ensure a consistent and effective application of this Regulation across the Community in the light of its basic principle, according to which animals must not be transported in a way likely to cause injury or undue suffering to them, it is appropriate to set out detailed provisions addressing the specific needs arising in relation to the various types of transport. Such detailed provisions should be interpreted and applied in accordance with the aforesaid principle and should be timely updated whenever, in particular in the light of new scientific advice, they appear no longer to ensure compliance with the above principle for particular species or types of transport.’

4 Article 1 of Regulation No 1/2005 provides:

‘1. This Regulation shall apply to the transport of live vertebrate animals carried out within the Community…

…

3. This Regulation shall not be an obstacle to any stricter national measures aimed at improving the welfare of animals during transport taking place entirely within the territory of a Member State or during sea transport departing from the territory of a Member State.

…’

5 Article 3 of Regulation No 1/2005, entitled ‘General conditions for the transport of animals’, provides:

‘No person shall transport animals or cause animals to be transported in a way likely to cause injury or undue suffering to them.

In addition, the...