After previous failed attempts, the Brussels Council of Ministers postponed the approval of the Animal Welfare Code again this Thursday. The PS remains apprehensive about the vote on the codex in parliament, because parliamentarians can attach an amendment to it that bans slaughter without stunning.
The government now has a temporary solution: they have parked the file with the party leaders. In concrete terms, the government has asked the Brussels regional PS chairman Ahmed Laaouej to hold a meeting with the majority. This is confirmed by the spokesperson of Minister of Animal Welfare Bernard Clerfayt (Défi) to our editors.
Details about that meeting are not yet known, but according to various sources it will be the party leaders who will sit around the table and seek a majority for this proposal. For Ecolo, Rajae Maouane called on parliamentarians on Thursday morning not to approve any amendments regarding slaughter without stunning. Prime Minister Rudi Vervoort (PS) has already announced that he agrees with this.
It is not yet certain whether the proposal goes in that direction. “That is precisely the subject of those conversations,” says the Clerfayt cabinet.
It is not the first time that the government has let the party leaders pull the chestnuts out of the fire. They previously did this when discussing religious signs at STIB, although at the time it was only the French-speaking party chairmen, while now the Dutch-speaking government partners are also joining the table.
