Bond actress visits EP to support Compassion in World Farming

British actress Joanna Lumley has told MEPs that the EU must do more to protect Europe’s pigs. The one-time Bond girl was in Brussels to speak at an event organised by Compassion in World Farming, a pressure group that lobbies for animal rights in agriculture. The  star urged those countries failing to comply with EU laws on the treatment of pigs to change their ways.

Lumley said that existing legislation was simply being ignored: “Please enforce the laws that you have passed. That is the only point in laws. If they mean nothing, chuck them out of the window and we’ll start all over again.”

EU law lays down minimal welfare standards on the treatment of bigs and bans a practice known as tail docking. Farmers say tail docking is not routine, but argue that it is sometimes necessary to stop infections.

Dan Joergensen, a Danish Socialist MEP, who chairs the European Parliament’s animal welfare group, said that “the farmers that are actually following the law have worse conditions that the ones who are not.”

“Obviously it can lead to more expenses for them, so it’s also only fair that there is an equal playing field for all farmers. So this is also another reason why we are pushing this issue,” he said.

Nine member states, including France and Germany, have been cited as infringing EU law.

Health Commissioner Tonio Borg said those countries which fail to follow the legislation could be taken to the European Court of Justice.

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