Animal Politics EU

Animal Politics EU, formerly Euro Animal 7, is an animal rights European political alliance.

Animal Politics EU
Founded	2014
Ideology	Animal rights[1] Animal welfare[1]
Political position	Left-wing[2]
European Parliament group	The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL
European Parliament	2 / 720
Politics of European Union Political parties Elections

Former logo

Ideology

Animal Politics EU is considered left-wing.^[2] The parties of Animal Politics EU take clear left-wing ideological positions, calling for enlargements of welfare systems, stressing the need to fight against social inequalities, and openly criticizing capitalism.^[3] The group believes in the need to regulate and limit capitalism and globalization, arguing that compassion to animals should extend to socio-economic issues, stating that there is a "moral obligation to protect or care for the weakest creatures and give ‘a voice to the voiceless ones’—not only animals but also human beings with severe restrictions, children, and possibly poor people and oppressed or discriminated minorities."^[4]

The group proposes a catalogue of policies that is shared by all of its member parteies, which include improving the legal status of all animals, redirecting EU subsidies away from livestock and fish farming, promoting plant-based lifestyle, phasing out genetically manipulated crops, ending farming practices that cause harm to animals, banning the export of live animals and animal experimentation, and abolishing legal protections and privileges to traditions that involve animal cruelty.^[3]

All parties of Animal Politics EU also share a rejection of speciesism, arguing that it is morally unjustifiable to exclude non-human animals and their suffering from moral considerations. The declarations of the group include: "the fight against all forms of discrimination, oppression and exploitation must be extended to the liberation of animals", "anthropocentrism and speciesism dominant in the history of civilization, allied to individual and collective egocentrism without any regard for the [animals] quality of living and sentient beings, have been causing a great ecological imbalance and enormous suffering", and "After the liberation of slaves and women, and giving rights to children, it is the next logical step to take the interests of animals seriously."^[3]

Group members call for:^[5]

• Raise the moral and legal status of animals
• Improve the welfare of animals kept for farming purposes and ensure proper enforcement of animal welfare legislation across all EU member states
• Phase out farming practices which are harmful to animals and re-direct EU subsidies away from the intensive livestock industry, into sustainable, plant-based and organic agriculture
• End the long-distance transport of live animals within and outside the EU
• Stop overfishing within and outside European waters
• Phase out animal testing with binding targets for reduction and replacement, combined with incentives for alternative testing methods
• End legal derogations and subsidies for so-called cultural and religious traditions that involve cruelty to animals, such as bullfighting, non-stun slaughter and foie gras production
• Fight the illicit trade of pets in the EU and halt the barbaric treatment of stray dogs and cats in Europe
• Implement a ban on hunting and prohibit the import of wildlife trophies
• Close all fur farms in Europe and ban fur imports from third countries
• Take hazardous pesticides and endocrine disrupting chemicals out of the market
• Combat climate change by supporting a shift towards a plant-based lifestyle
• Implementing a CO₂ tax for companies and speeding up efforts to realise a complete switch to renewable energy
• Realise efficient, affordable and accessible public transport, as an alternative to air travel

Member parties

Country	Party	Votes in national parliament election	National MPs	2014 MEPs	Votes in European parliament election 2019	2019 result and MEPs	Votes in European parliament election 2024	2024 result and MEPs
Belgium	DierAnimal	47,733 (5 of 11 constituencies)	0	0	606 (only German Community)	1.5%, 0	did not contest
Cyprus	Animal Party Cyprus ‡	4,088	0	0	2,208	0.8%, 0	1,013	0.3% , 0
France	Animalist Party	63,637 (142 of 577 constituencies)	0	0	490,074	2.2%, 0	494,356	2.0%, 0
Finland	Animal Justice Party of Finland	3,378	0	0	2,917	0.2%, 0	did not contest
Germany	Human Environment Animal Protection Party ‡	675,353	0	1[6]	542,226	1.4%, 1[7]b	570,498	1.4%, 1
Italy	Italian Animalist Party		0	0	160,270	0.6%, 0	not part of Animal Politics EU
Netherlands	Party for the Animals ‡	235,148[8]	3[8]	1	220,938	4.0%, 1	279,239	4.5%, 1
Portugal	People–Animals–Nature (PAN) ‡	88,127[9]	1[10]	0	167,130	5.5%, 1[11]a	48,033	1.2%, 0
Sweden	The Animals' Party ‡	3,648	0	0	4,105	0.1%, 0	did not contest
Spain	Animalist Party with the Environment (PACMA) ‡	326,045	0	0	294,657	1.3%, 0	134,425	0.8%, 0
United Kingdom	Animal Welfare Party ‡	3,086 (6 out of 650 constituencies)	0	0	25,232	1.1% (only in London)	no longer in European Union

^‡ Founding parties of EuroAnimal 7.

Notes

^ PAN's MEP resigned from the party in June 2020 and remained in the Greens/EFA parliamentary group as an independent MEP.

^ Tierschutzpartei's MEP resigned from the party in February 2020 and remained as a non-inscrit MEP.

References

1. Europe’s Animal Welfare Party Could Make History This Week. Care2, 21 May 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
2. Morini, Marco (2018). "'Animals first!' The rise of animal advocacy parties in the EU: a new party family". Contemporary Politics. 24 (4): 4. doi:10.1080/13569775.2018.1434450. ISSN 1469-3631. EuroAnimal 7 has been able to elect 2 MEPs, one in Germany and one in the Netherlands, which are now part of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left, thus taking a clear placing on the left of the European political spectrum (and together with 'traditional' green parties).
3. Morini, Marco (2018). "'Animals first!' The rise of animal advocacy parties in the EU: a new party family". Contemporary Politics. 24 (4): 2–10. doi:10.1080/13569775.2018.1434450. ISSN 1469-3631.
4. Sandler, Vivian Margoth (2021). "The Plight of Nonhuman Animals: An Overlooked Branch of Critical Theory? Its Presence in the Frankfurt School and Relevance in Portugal and PAN" (PDF). História e arqueologia. Universidade do Porto: 100.
5. Benakis, Theodoros (5 April 2019). "Animal Politics EU present collective manifesto ahead of EU elections".
6. "Results of the 2014 European elections". European Parliament. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
7. "Nach der Wahl: Ergebnis Tierschutzpartei Europawahl 2019". Partei Mensch Umwelt Tierschutz (in German). 27 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
8. "Kiesraad - Verkiezingsuitslagen". www.verkiezingsuitslagen.nl. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
9. "Resultados Globais - Eleições Legislativas 2022". Secretaria-Geral do Ministério da Administração Interna (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2 June 2022.
10. "PAN consegue eleger um deputado". Renascença (in European Portuguese). 31 January 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
11. "PAN perde o seu único deputado no Parlamento Europeu por "divergências políticas"". Expresso (in European Portuguese). 16 June 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.