[ad_1]
According to a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union, EU countries can also stipulate that animals must be anesthetized for ritual slaughter. Such regulations did not fundamentally violate the right to religious freedom, the judges in Luxembourg found. This requirement follows the EU-recognized objective of promoting animal welfare. Therefore, member states have a wide margin to bring animal welfare and religious freedom to a “proper balance”. (Az C-336/19).
A politically explosive legal dispute was negotiated from Belgium. There, the Flanders region banned slaughter without stunning in 2017 for animal welfare reasons. Jewish and Muslim associations complained about it. Both religions have rules for slaughter without anesthesia to make meat kosher or halal. Believers see their religious freedom at risk.
The Constitutional Court of Brussels referred the dispute to the ECJ. According to the ruling, EU law allows ritual slaughter without prior stunning in exceptional cases and in the interest of religious freedom. However, the EU states could themselves stipulate the obligation to stun the animals. Only “one aspect of the specific ritual act” was affected, he said. Flanders’ negotiated decree respects religious freedom, as it does not prohibit ritual slaughter as such. Furthermore, Flanders does not prohibit the import of products derived from ritually slaughtered animals.
The Constitutional Court of Brussels can now decide the Belgian dispute only in accordance with national law.
