‘In exercising their respective powers, the federal state, the communities and the regions strive to protect and care for animals as sentient beings.’
This passage supplements Article 7bis of the Constitution, which describes the general policy objectives of the authorities. At the end of last week, the House approved this constitutional amendment, with thanks to PVDA/PTB, Défi, Les Engagés, Groen, Ecolo, MR, Vooruit and PS (although without faction leader Ahmed Laaouej).
What will this constitutional amendment change in practice? For example, will the provision have an influence on the Brussels discussion about slaughter without stunning? It has been dragging on for a long time. Two years ago, a proposal by Défi, Open VLD and Groen to ban slaughter without stunning was voted down in the Brussels parliament.
There was a lot of fuss about it again recently when Minister Bernard Clerfayt (Défi) wanted to have his Animal Welfare codex approved by parliament. He encountered stiff resistance from the PS, which fears that the codex will be expanded to include a ban on slaughter without stunning, which could lead to a loss of Muslim votes in the coming elections.
Tags: Animal welfare constitution obligation ban slaughter stunning
