Belgium: the country of chocolate, beer and an animal welfare state objective

Elien Verniers

Ghent University

1        Napoleon, Belgium and the EU

Not long after the defeat of Napoleon, Belgium declared its independence on 4 October 1830. One year later, in 1831, the Belgian Constitution was adopted. Now, almost two centuries later, the Belgian Constitution is on the verge of a new historic event: the inclusion of animals.

It all started in 2016 when a prominent Belgian animal welfare organization, Global Action in the Interest of Animals (“GAIA”) launched a campaign (and corresponding survey) for a Belgian constitutional provision on animal welfare. The campaign was a success and soon afterwards legislative proposals to address animal welfare in the Belgian Constitution were submitted to the federal parliament. It was the start of a long legal journey with many ups and downs. For example, after many discussions and invitations to experts, a constitutional provision on animal welfare was ultimately dismissed in the previous parliamentary term (2014-2019).

The risk of dismissal in this parliamentary term also exists, especially in light of what happened with the expected revision of EU animal welfare legislation which is currently absent from the ‘2023 letter of intent’ as well as from EU President Ursula von der Leyen’s 2023 State of the Union address. Yet, there is still some hope. In particular, the adoption of a Belgian animal welfare state objective is progressing well. At the time of writing, the proposal for a Belgian animal welfare state objective had been unanimously passed in the Commission of Institutional Affairs within the Belgian Senate. However, despite the approval of the Senate, the Commission for the Constitution and Institutional Reforms of the Belgian Parliament has requested several experts (including the author of this blogpost) to provide additional advice before voting on the inclusion in the Parliament. This can be perceived as a bit unorthodox as several experts already provided this input in the Senate. Therefore, it is possible that this new call for expertise is a mere strategy to stall and avoid voting in the current parliamentary term as new elections are set in June of this year. Additionally, from 1 January to 30 June 2024, Belgium will hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union and hopefully this can create the final breakthrough for animal welfare at the EU level as well.

2        Animal welfare as a (Belgian) constitutional value

In the legislative proposals of the previous and current parliamentary term (2019-2024) two avenues for the inclusion of animals in the Belgian Constitution were explored: animal welfare as a state objective (Article 7bis) and animal welfare as a fundamental social and economic right (Article 23). Legal scholarship has also proposed other alternatives such as a classic fundamental right for animal welfare as well as fundamental animal rights. As mentioned above, it is the inclusion in the Constitution of animal welfare as a state objective which is in the home straight. The crucial difference between this choice and the alternative of constitutionalising animal welfare as a fundamental social and economic right is the (lack of the) possibility of judicial review by the Belgian Constitutional Court. Because of the peculiarities of the Belgian constitutional system, the Belgian Constitutional Court can only review provisions which are part of Title II ‘Belgians and their rights’ (Articles 8-32) of the Belgian Constitution, which indeed excludes Article 7bis. This raises questions on the (most likely) mere symbolic impact of an animal welfare state objective. However, be it symbolic or not, it does not change the fact that Belgium is on its way to elevate animal protection to a core constitutional value.

3        Beer and chocolate as preconditions for animal constitutionalism?

If Belgium adopts this constitutional proposal for an animal welfare state objective it will become the eighth country on the European continent (alongside Austria, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Russia, Slovenia, and Switzerland), and the twelfth in the world (alongside Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt and India) to have animal protection constitutionally anchored. With the recent inclusion of animal protection in the Italian constitution and the fresh Finnish proposal for the constitutional protection of fundamental animal rights, animal constitutionalism is increasingly rising. Yet, compared to constitutional provisions on the environment (147) and sustainable development (105), animal protection still has some catching up to do and a vast amount of untapped potential. In the specific case of Belgium, Germany served as a precedent, which explains the choice for a Belgian animal welfare state objective, similar to the German animal welfare state objective. Admittedly, it is not a 100% scientific verified theory, but perhaps chocolate and beer are one of the secret ingredients for animal constitutionalism: Swiss chocolates, the German Oktoberfest and the Austrian Bier Partei… As for now, cheers to the promising constitutional developments in Belgium!

Elien Verniers is part of the Centre for Environmental Law in the Department of European, Public and International Law at Ghent University

Suggested citation: Elien Verniers, ‘Belgium: the country of chocolate, beer and an animal welfare state objective’ IACL-AIDC Blog (20 February 2024) Belgium: the country of chocolate, beer and an animal welfare state objective — IACL-IADC Blog (blog-iacl-aidc.org)