"Dear ÖVP ..."

Fully slatted floors: Rauch wants to stick to deadlines

Rauch wants to talk "seriously" about animal welfare.(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

Animal Welfare Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) has called for a rethink in agriculture. The reason for this is renewed criticism from the ÖVP and the Farmers' Association regarding a transitional period for implementing the ban on fully slatted floors in pig farming until 2030. Rauch sees no reason to shake the deadlines set.

"We should talk seriously about animal welfare, dear ÖVP. The emphasis is on seriously. Our proposals have been on the table, in some cases for months," said Rauch in a statement on Thursday.

Improvements in many areas for the welfare of pets and farm animals are urgently needed, said Rauch. At the beginning of January, the Constitutional Court overturned the original transitional period for implementing the ban until 2040 as being too long and objectively unjustified.

Subsidies are to be increased
The legislator was given until June 2025 to repair the regulation. Rauch's plan now envisages that unstructured full-slatted pens will be banned from 2030. Subsidies are to be increased to ensure that farms make the switch quickly.

At the same time, origin labeling must be introduced in the food service sector so that consumers can consciously choose Austrian meat, according to the ministry.

Farmers want deadline extension
The ÖVP and the Farmers' Association presented their proposal in Vienna on Wednesday: for stables built before 2013, a deadline of 2036 is envisaged, for those built after 2013 until 2040. For Rauch, this is inconceivable, rather a "rethink in agriculture is needed. Then a reasonable deadline for the end of the current fully slatted pens is also possible."

Minister Rauch, who is responsible for animal welfare and consumer protection, emphasized that he also wanted to continue to enable pig farming in Austria. "One that spares the animals suffering. This requires origin labeling that motivates the food service industry to buy meat from Austria. Funding is needed so that farms can convert their stables."