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Animal welfare barely registered in EU politics two decades ago, when Brussels last updated its rules for livestock transport. | Arnaud Finistre\/Getty Images<\/p>\nMember countries have been at odds over how to handle transport in hot weather, the movement of young calves and \u2014 most explosively \u2014 journey time limits.<\/p>\n
Animal welfare barely registered in EU politics two decades ago, when Brussels last updated its rules for livestock transport. | Arnaud Finistre\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Copenhagen, which took over the rotating Council presidency in July, says it\u2019s found a pragmatic way to keep the reform alive. Jensen, the farm minister, told POLITICO he sees \u201cgood progress\u201d in technical negotiations, including on how animals are handled, watered and fed during transport, even as the journey time limits debate remains frozen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not correct to say there\u2019s no progress,\u201d Jensen said in a telephone interview. \u201cIf the conditions are good, if animals have ventilation, water and trained handlers, it matters less whether it\u2019s one or two hours longer.\u201d<\/p>\n
An unlikely champion<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s a message that captures Denmark\u2019s paradox. The Nordic country is one of Europe\u2019s largest exporters of live animals, sending some 13 million piglets a year<\/a> to other EU states. <\/p>\n Yet it has also been among the bloc\u2019s loudest voices for tougher welfare rules, even calling for a full ban on live exports<\/a> to third countries ahead of the Commission\u2019s proposal. Now, isolated on that front, it is trying to salvage the weaker Commission draft by making it workable enough to pass.<\/p>\n