EU Farmers Urge Action to End the Cage Age Farmers and campaigners gather in Brussels, launching a 190‑day countdown urging the EU to deliver its promise to end the Cage Age and improve animal welfare.

Read the full dispatch from World Cage-Free Day 2026: www.ciwf.eu/media-and-ne...

This #WorldCageFreeDay, farmers & civil society stood united to kick off a 190-day countdown to #EndtheCageAge for all animals⏰

For the welfare of animals, the health of democracy, and a just & resilient farming system, it's time for the @ec.europa.eu to keep its promise.

@vincianebxl.bsky.social, our Head of EU, kicked off the countdown to cage-free legislation today, alongside MEPs and higher welfare farmers from across Europe.

The direction is clear. The future is cage-free. #EndTheCageAge

The stage is set in Brussels this #WorldCageFreeDay!

We’re here united with the #EndTheCageAge coalition and cage-free farmers, calling on @ec.europa.eu to keep it's commitment and ban cages.
For animal welfare, democracy, & a resilient food system, it’s time for the Commission to keep its promise.

This #WorldCageFreeDay starts the countdown for the @ec.europa.eu to deliver the long-promised animal welfare reforms — including a cage ban.

Together with farmers leading the way, we’ll deliver a clear message: cages belong in history books.

Join us:
📍 175 Rue de la Loi
🕙 10:00–13:00
📅 today

This week, the #EndTheCageAge coalition & cage-free farmers are coming to Brussels.

No roadblocks, no fires — just one clear message: Europe must finally ban cages.

📅25 March
⏲️10:00–13:00
📍in front of the European Commission
#WorldCageFreeDay

The @europarl.europa.eu must do better in the upcoming plenary vote.

Only a transition to extensive, high-welfare animal farming within planetary boundaries can secure the long-term resilience of EU animal farming.

What's at stake? In the EU, factory farming:

🍚 uses 2/3 of our grain to feed animals instead of people
🐔 cages roughly 300 million animals every year
🏭 emits about 8% of the EU’s total greenhouse gases
☣️ pollutes waters and soils, killing biodiversity and making people sick

Today, EU lawmakers missed an opportunity to push for a food system that moves away from harmful, wasteful, & cruel factory farming.

The @europarl.europa.eu AGRI Committee has adopted the EU Livestock INI report, which fails to address the structural weaknesses of the intensive farming sector.

Stop the grain drain: Feed people, not factory farms Sign the open letter calling on governments to feed people, not factory farms — a wasteful, cruel system that harms the planet and drains public resources.

Sign the open letter now to urge leaders to end this cycle: action.ciwf.org/page/177062/...

The EU imports most of this feed. This exposes the whole continent to the risks associated with import dependency and contributes to food insecurity while millions go hungry in Europe and beyond.

Factory farms divert huge amounts of food, that could help nourish people, into feed for animals trapped in lives defined by constant suffering.

In tomorrow's Livestock INI report vote, EU lawmakers can’t give a free pass to factory farming and its feed problem.

www.ciwf.org/media/alxj1x...

📨We urged @ec.europa.eu to immediately stop the exports of live animals to the Middle East.

With renewed escalation of hostility in the region, transporting animals into an active conflict zone poses an unacceptable & unnecessary risk for animals & the people handling them.

Our joint letter 👇

🐄 The fates of calves transported from Ireland to France via Brittany Ferries is a sad one... and it's unlawful, as they are not being fed for 18+ hours on this crossing.

NGOs inc. @fourpawsint.bsky.social and @ciwf.eu are taking action against the shipping company, which has so far refused to act.

🛠️ Fix the agri-food system or miss climate targets, warns scientists
The latest @esabcc.bsky.social report calls for a “systemic transition” to:
🌱 climate-proof our food and farming system
😷 protect public health and our environment
🐄 and reduce our reliance on feed and fertiliser imports
🧵👇

Top EU court hears landmark case on need to End the Cage Age We argued our case for millions of farmed animals and for Europeans demanding cage-free future

Read more about our day in court: www.ciwf.eu/media-and-ne...

MEP @tillymetz.bsky.social joined us and closed the action by stressing that leaving no sentient being behind is about the credibility of the EU institutions, but also about solidarity and compassion.

It's time to #EndtheCageAge!

"We came all the way here from Italy to represent all citizens who want change and bring the voice of all animals still confined in cages," said Lorenza Bianchi from LAV.

She urged the Commission to put public interests before commercial ones and #EndtheCageAge.

"We are here because history teaches that progress is achieved by those who do not stop raising their voices, &we will not stop," said Animal Equality's Till Hartmann.

They demand one thing, simple and immediate: a date to #EndtheCageAge.

"If a successful ECI can be left on hold without any consequence, what message does that send to citizens?" asked Stephanie Ghislain from @eurogroupforanimals.org
"We came here today to remind the Commission of the rules & of its promise."

As the organisers of the #EndtheCageAge #ECI, "we've done what was asked of us", said the Citizens' Committee spokesperson Annamaria Pisapia. "Yet almost five years on, we’re still waiting for the Commission to keep its end of the bargain" for animals and democracy.

As our Director Debbie Tripley put it, the Commission has a legal obligation to let 1.4 million Europeans and the 300 million animals trapped in cages know when it intends to keep its promise to ban cages.

So many of you joined us in Luxembourg to show your support for #EndtheCageAge! Thank you 💚

Yesterday's hearing on why the @ec.europa.eu must provide a new timeline for proposals to phase out cages was a milestone for millions of caged animals & participatory democracy!

Court of Justice of EU hears how EC failed citizens on ban on cages Civil society today had the opportunity to present the case for phasing out cages at the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in Luxembourg, arguing that the European Commission (EC) has failed to uphold...

🧑‍⚖️🚨 In a landmark moment, we are asking the EU Court of Justice to hold the @ec.europa.eu accountable for failing to deliver on its promise to #EndTheCageAge!

@ciwf.eu @ciwf.org

#PressRelease: www.eurogroupforanimals.org/news/court-j...

EU court hears landmark case on broken promise to End the Cage Age Animal welfare campaigners rallied outside the Court of Justice of the EU as a landmark hearing took place to hold the Commission to account over its broken promise to End the Cage Age

Read more: www.ciwf.eu/media-and-ne...

Today’s #EndtheCageAge hearing at the @eucourtofjustice.bsky.social is pivotal for the welfare of millions of caged animals and for the health of democracy.

The @ec.europa.eu must stop making a mockery of the European Citizens’ Initiative – the only tool of participatory democracy in the EU.

Today, the @eucourtofjustice.bsky.social is hearing our landmark #EndtheCageAge legal case.

We’ll make sure to raise #OurVoices for millions of caged animals and democracy.

Stay tuned!

This #ECIDay, we honour the extraordinary power of citizens’ voices for animals.

In two days, the @EUCourtPress will hear our landmark #EndtheCageAge case — a key moment in the fight to free millions of animals from cages.

Thank you to everyone who spoke up. 💚
#CivSocWeek2026