European Parliament
Lucas (Verts/ALE ).
Commissioner, thank you for that response. As I am sure you know, this is an issue of great concern to a lot of people across the European Union, and they will want to know that we are tackling it with a great degree of urgency. I would like to bring to your attention Council Directive 98/58/EC – the general farm animal welfare directive – which states that 'no animal shall be provided with food or liquid in a manner (...) which may cause unnecessary suffering or injury'. Given that the mechanical force-feeding of ducks and geese does exactly that, will the Commission please state whether it is satisfied with the application of Directive 98/58/EC in France and Belgium in particular?
Directive 98/58/EC also allows for Community measures to ensure the uniform application of Council of Europe recommendations. Given that Germany and Denmark, together with Poland, have already prohibited force-feeding, will the Commission now come forward and propose an outright ban on
foie gras
so as to harmonise EU legislation in this area?

