Reports in Brussels suggest that the European Commission is preparing to reject an EU-wide ban on fur farming and instead pursue so-called welfare standards for animals farmed for fur.

If confirmed, this would be a shameful attempt to water down the clear message of the Fur Free Europe European Citizens’ Initiative. More than 1.5 million citizens supported this campaign because they want an end to fur farming and fur sales in Europe, not a new set of technical rules to keep a cruel and outdated industry alive.

Public opposition to fur farming is not because it lacks detailed enough standards, but because the system itself is inherently cruel. Wild animals such as mink, foxes and raccoon dogs are confined in barren cages and denied almost everything that matters to them, all for the sake of products that the overwhelming direction of the market has already moved away from.

Trying to present stricter welfare rules as a meaningful response to Fur Free Europe completely misses the point. Citizens did not sign in their millions for slightly different cage dimensions or more paperwork for producers. They signed because they want this cruel industry brought to an end.

The Commission also cannot credibly claim to be following the science while ignoring its central implication. As shown by EFSA last year, the welfare problems identified in fur farming are not minor defects that can simply be ironed out: they are built into the cage-based production system itself.

The Commission also cannot hide behind economic arguments. Analysis by economist Griffin Carpenter has already shown that the remaining EU fur sector is limited and declining. This is not a vital industry that Europe must preserve at all costs. It is a shrinking and increasingly discredited sector, and the sensible response is to manage its end fairly and decisively,  not to give it a new legislative framework and pretend it has a future.

Joh Vinding, Chair of the Fur Free Alliance said:

“Fur Free Europe was backed by more than 1.5 million citizens because people want this cruel industry ended, not repackaged with new rules. If these reports are confirmed, the Commission will be ignoring both science and democracy in order to keep fur farming alive. Member states should now put real pressure on the Commission to stop protecting the cruel fur industry and deliver the ban that EU citizens expect.”

The Fur Free Alliance urges the European Commission to abandon any attempt to legitimise fur farming through new welfare rules and instead deliver what citizens called for: legislation to end the keeping and killing of animals for fur, alongside a ban on placing farmed fur products on the EU market.