European Zoos

EDM number 786 in 1995-96, proposed by Tony Banks on 24/04/1996.

That this House expresses its great concern at the appalling conditions facing animals in many of Europe's zoos; is horrified that, even approaching the turn of the century, many animals are kept in conditions so atrocious that they have become insane; applauds the European Union's proposal in the form of a draft European Zoo Directive aimed at introducing minimum welfare standards to address this unnecessary suffering; notes that such a draft directive has the full support of both the responsible zoo world in the form of the National Federation for Zoos and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria and the zoo world's most strident critics, namely the Born Free Foundation and The World Society for the Protection of Animals; is concerned that Her Majesty's Government regards the issues raised by such draft directive as being subject to subsidiarity; further notes that the draft directive has been returned by the European Commission to the European Parliament in the demoted form of a recommendation; is aware of the forthcoming bilateral meeting of the Prime Minister and the German Chancellor to discuss issues of subsidiarity and animal welfare; and calls upon the Prime Minister to reject the notion of subsidiarity as it might be applied to the issues of Europe's zoos and to seek, in particular, with the German Chancellor and colleagues throughout Europe, the earliest possible reintroduction of the proposed zoo measures in the form of a full directive or better still a regulation to address the widespread and unregulated animal suffering in zoos.

This motion has been signed by a total of 51 MPs.