MEP Marlene Mizzi says EU should stop funding ‘barbaric’ bullfighting

Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi said that she is very disappointed with the European Commission for having made little progress to stop EU funding for bullfighting activities. She was responding to a reply by the European Commission to a PQ she had asked concerning the allocation of EU funds for bullfighting.

“It is unacceptable that EU money is used to support such a barbaric and cruel sport that taunts and inflicts pain on helpless animals,” Mizzi said. “The European Commission should closely monitor member states that do not pay full regard to the animal welfare provisions in the existing European law so that animals do not endure any pain, harm, fear or distress.”

Mizzi said that some EU member states use EU subsidies to support farms that rear bulls used for bullfighting and that the bullfighting industry benefits from millions of euro annually under the Common Agricultural Policy.

In its reply, the European Commission said that no specific support for bullfighting exists under the Rural development policy and that European member states and farmers are obliged to pay full respect to the required welfare of animals. However, they added that farmers receive support for bullfighting by using a loophole in the rules for funding which recognizes the cultural traditions and regional heritage of member states. Mizzi deemed the Commission’s reply “unsatisfactory”.

On 22 October, a vote was taken in the European Parliament to ban EU subsidies to bullfighting. However, the vote did not get the majority required to ban it for the EU Budget for 2015.  However, Mizzi said that herself and 340 other MEPs managed to introduce a paragraph in the Budget Resolution that send a political message that financing bullfighting with EU money should be prohibited.

Marlene Mizzi is vice-president of the Animal Welfare Intergroup in the European Parliament.