“EPO’s voice has never been more important“

The times are anything but easy throughout the EU. Many are concerned about the rise of far-right parties in this year’s European Parliament elections – for Natalie Gamain, “the biggest challenge in this new EU term”. Among the 720 members of the European Parliament elected in June, she has calculated that there are only 454 pro-European members for the new term. Gamain fears that the eurosceptics will now create more noise and challenges – especially since the far-right parties managed to form the third largest political faction in the European Parliament with the Patriots for Europe during the July session. These changes in the political landscape directly and indirectly affect the interests of the pet industry.

Gamain points out another challenge: the new Commission is to receive its own Animal Welfare Commissioner for the first time, following the ideas of the old and new President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Olivér Várhelyi from Hungary could fill this position in the future, although this had not been confirmed at the time of going to press. Várhelyi was previously the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement and is now a member of the far-right Patriots for Europe. Gamain quotes from the Hungarian politician’s letter of mandate that he will build on existing animal welfare laws, but also that he will “modernise animal welfare legislation, including legislation on the import of exotic animals, taking into account sustainability, ethical, scientific and economic considerations, as well as citizens’ expectations”. At the time of going to press, other candidates for Commission posts with an interest in the pet industry were Jessika Roswall, who is tipped to become Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive and Circular Economy, Christophe Hansen, who is to become Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, and Costas Kadis, who is expected to become Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans.

One thing is clear: the wind blowing out of Brussels is likely to become rougher for the pet industry in the future. This makes it all the more important, says Gamain, to further strengthen the voice of the pet industry at the EU level. The EPO has now set the course for this. It is. The organization is a member-based association led by national…