Europe is moving on cages - the UK must not fall behind

The European Commission has confirmed that cage reform is firmly back on the political agenda. 

In its new Livestock Strategy, published on 7 July, the Commission announced that it intends to bring forward legislative proposals to ban cages for laying hens in 2026, and for sows by mid-2027. If delivered, this could represent a major breakthrough for animal welfare in Europe, helping to free more than 160 million animals from cages. 

This announcement follows years of pressure from the End the Cage Age European Citizens’ Initiative, which was backed by 1.4 million European citizens and 170 organisations including FOUR PAWS. It is also long overdue. The Commission first committed in 2021 to bringing forward proposals to end cages for farmed animals, meaning that campaigners and citizens have waited five years for meaningful progress. 

But the direction of travel is now clear. Across Europe, the political question is shifting from whether cages should go, to how quickly governments will turn promises into law. 

That’s an issue for the UK.  

Here, the Government has already consulted on ending the use of enriched cages for laying hens. That consultation has now closed, but we are still waiting for the Government’s response, and for clarity on the legal route and timetable for turning any ban into law.

This is a crucial moment. A consultation is only meaningful if it leads to action. Hens kept in cages cannot dustbathe properly, forage freely, stretch their wings, move naturally or escape the confines of a system that restricts their lives from beginning to end. If the Government is serious about improving farm animal welfare, it must now publish its response and set out how and when it will legislate. 

The EU announcement also raises the stakes on farrowing crates for pigs. 

The UK Government has promised a consultation on farrowing crates, but that promise must now be delivered with ambition. A mother sow in a farrowing crate is so tightly confined that she cannot turn around freely, explore, nest properly, or choose how to interact with her piglets. For weeks, her world is reduced to a body held in place by metal bars. 

As the EU prepares proposals on sow cages by mid-2027, the UK must not fall behind its neighbours. Nor should it allow the debate to be narrowed by industry into softer language about “temporary”, “adaptable” or “flexible” crates. If a system prevents a sow from turning around freely, it remains a confinement system. A cage is not made humane because it is used for fewer days or described in gentler terms. 

The Commission’s Livestock Strategy also recognises the need to support farmers financially as they transition to more sustainable systems with higher animal welfare standards. That principle must apply here too. Farmers need certainty, support and a clear direction of travel. Animals need reform that is real, timely and free from loopholes. 

The UK should now match, if not exceed, the ambition being shown in Europe. That means publishing the laying hen consultation response without delay, setting out the legal pathway for ending cages, delivering a full public consultation on farrowing crates, and making clear that free farrowing,  not temporary confinement, is the ultimate destination. 

Real reform means no delays, no loopholes, and no cages by another name. 

It's time to #CutTheCages.