Animal circus ban defended
CAPS has helped thwart an attempt by the European Commission to overturn Austria's ban on wild animal circuses. Austria had introduced the ban last year but European Commissioner for Internal Market, Charlie McCreevy, claimed that the ban could be in contravention of an EU treaty on freedom to provide services as it would prevent circuses from other countries using wild animals in its shows in Austria. CAPS insisted that the ban introduced in Austria is compatible with the EU-Treaty as such restrictions can be justified on the grounds of public morality or the protection and life of animals. The Austrian animal rights organisation Verantwortung Gegenueber Tieren (VGT) immediately launched a European-wide campaign to defend Austria's ban, and CAPS took the lead in the UK. We wrote to all UK MEPs asking them to intervene and we received many letters of support from MEPs, some of whom tabled questions in the European Parliament and wrote directly to McCreevy. The Austrian government strongly defended the ban on wild animal acts and told the EU Council that there was no intention to withdraw the ban. EU citizens were also able to directly contact McCreevy and their own country's Commissioner for Trade via the VGT website, with over 20,000 people taking the opportunity to do so. While there has been no official statement from McCreevy that he has fully stopped legal action against Austria, in February the European Parliament adopted a new directive which states that those providing services must abide by the laws of the country they are providing the services in, and McCreevy has since commented "I am confident that this case can soon be closed." VGT have asked that people contact Commissioner McCreevy, asking him to officially confirm that the case against the ban on wild animals in circuses is closed. Contact: Commissioner Charlie McCreevy Photograph © Verein Gegen Tierfabriken |
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