A group of EU countries, under the leadership of France, has blocked a proposed plan to increase the minimum living space for farm chickens. The group is concerned about EU farms competing with Brazilan chicken farmers.
The European Commission currently mandates a maximum of 38 kilos of chickens per square meter. The proposal, brought by Dutch PvdA party member Thijs Berman, was seeking a maximum of 34 kg of chickens per square meter by 2013.
Berman’s reacted with deep disappointment. According to Berman, today’s EU consumers prefer a meat from well-cared for chickens and even indicated that some Brazilian chickens today have more space than some EU chickens.
Germany, Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries back the proposal, but together they do not constitute enough votes against the French coalition.
