European Parliament
President.
Question No 39 by Patricia McKenna 
Subject: The protection of animals during transport
The Commission will be aware that in 2001, the European Parliament voted for a maximum overall limit of eight hours or 500 km to be placed on the transport of animals to slaughter or further fattening. The Commission's Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare concluded that ‘welfare tends to become poorer as journey length increases … hence journeys should be as short as possible’. In light of the above, will the Commission, despite not having included a maximum overall journey limit in its proposed Regulation, now support such a limit if Parliament again calls for a maximum overall limit when adopting its Opinion on the proposed Regulation?

