EU-Turkish border exposes hell of animal transport

“I consider it a top priority to launch the work on the Commission proposal for the animal transport regulation as soon as possible,” she told POLITICO, adding that there’s already “sufficient data to start digging into the proposal, so there is no need to delay the process further with yet another EPRS study.”

While the new rules fall short on several aspects in the view of animal welfare groups, they’re eager to start negotiations on them as they could still have averted situations like those seen at the Turkish border.

“Whilst you can’t polish a turd, you can roll it in glitter. It is time to get rolling and to stop with these delays,” NGO Four Paws’ boss Joe Moran said.

In the Council of the EU, member states’ experts are also in no rush. Technical discussions, which have just recently started, are proceeding “calmly and with common sense,” an EU diplomat told POLITICO, saying they prefer that “what comes out is something solid and that can really be implemented.”

As the talks drag on, the flaws in the bloc’s existing transport rules are being cruelly exposed by incidents such as the German heifers on the EU’s Turkish border — causing pain to the animals affected, and financial distress to the companies involved.

This story has been updated.