The ethical transition of European intensive farming seems to have finally found a concrete chronological track. For the first time in the recent history of community institutions, the European Commission has included in the draft update of the Livestock Strategy an explicit timetable aimed at overcoming the era of intensive livestock farming based on confinement. The document establishes that the revision of the regulations relating to the protection of laying hens and broiler chickens must be presented by the end of 2026, while the legislative package dedicated to the protection of pigs is scheduled for the second quarter of 2027.
This planning momentum is not the result of a spontaneous bureaucratic generation, but follows a four-day mobilization that blocked the institutional neighborhoods of Brussels between 22 and 25 June 2026. Over 170 activists supported by MEPs belonging to four distinct political coalitions demonstrated in front of the Berlaymont, DG SANTE and in Place du Luxembourg. Street pressure forced community leaders to reconsider the terms of the European citizens’ initiative called “End the Cage Age”, signed by over 1.4 million people in 2021 and which remained blocked in the Union’s offices for five years.
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The content of the reform and the limits for importing
The regulatory framework outlined in the draft aims to radically rewrite the daily management of the poultry and pig production chain. For the poultry sector, the text introduces the progressive elimination of cages and a stop to the killing of male chicks, as well as imposing objective welfare indicators and the updating of commercial egg labels to guide consumers. As regards pigs, the directive provides for the mandatory transition from metal cells to group pens. A key element of the reform is the extension of equivalent requirements to all food products imported from non-EU markets, in order to avoid unfair competition.
The paradigm shift is evident in the Commission’s own words, which defines animal welfare as a crucial factor to ensure the future sustainability and commercial competitiveness of European livestock farming. On the political front, MEPs Niels Fuglsang and Tilly Metz sent a formal letter to Commissioners Christophe Hansen (Agriculture) and Olivér Várhelyi (Health) asking for strict deadlines. The associations have denounced an imbalance in the consultation channels: the analysis of the Transparency Register carried out by Animal Equality reveals 708 meetings of the commissioners with industry lobbyists, compared to just seven consultations with environmentalist groups.
The discontent of the associations and the test of July 7th
Caution remains the dominant line among animal rights advocates. Matteo Cupi, vice-president of Animal Equality Europa, recalled that the simple indication of a date in a draft does not yet equate to a statutory law and that millions of animals continue to suffer imprisonment awaiting binding reforms. On the same wavelength, Matteo Bianchi, a member of the Lav, highlighted the Commission’s failure to comply with the written commitments originally undertaken for the end of 2023, highlighting the significant delay accumulated with respect to the requests of European taxpayers.
The spotlight is on today, July 7, 2026, the date set for the formal adoption of the Strategy. Only the removal of the brackets that contain the time deadlines in the definitive text will decide whether the European Union intends to launch a binding legal provision or whether the definitive farewell to cages will suffer yet another delay caused by pressure from industrial corporations. During the last day of protests, activists symbolically surrounded the headquarters of DG SANTE with the yellow tapes typical of crime scenes, testifying to a civil vigilance that does not intend to retreat.
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