Development of Animal Welfare Indicator

• Selecting or defining the most suitable indicator(s) reflecting the welfare of animals supported by the CAP;
  • Defining the method to select the most suitable indicator(s) (e.g. a specific scoring) was undertaken;
  • Selected and confirmed the relevance of indicators proposed in the European Commission’s evaluation study on animal welfare regarding their capacity to reflect the welfare of animals.
• Assessed the feasibility of effective data collection for the calculation of the indicator(s);
  • Provided a state of play of available data at the Member State level, documenting indicator(s);
  • Reviewed (if necessary) the indicator(s) proposed in light of available data.

The workflow of the TWG followed traditional steps of evaluation with the involvement of various stakeholders through a series of meetings:

• Working Package 1: Launched the TWG where several aspects that framed the concept of animal welfare indicators were discussed, including a presentation of the initial list of indicators identified in the European Commission’s evaluation study on animal welfare;
• Working Package 2: Developed a methodology ranking the initial list of indicators and identifying a suitable indicator or set of indicators reflecting the impact of the CAP on the development of animal welfare in the EU, comprising the following steps:
  • Identified major animal welfare issues, based on a literature review.
  • Analysed how CAP instruments and measures were used when addressing animal welfare issues, based on the data collected in the European Commission’s evaluation study on animal welfare
  • Analysed the state of play of animal welfare indicators in the Member States, based on an EU-wide survey conducted as part of the TWG
  • Ranked the initial list of indicators based on the information collected in the previous steps
  • Drafted a working document that summarised the work of the TWG 
  • Prepared a Sounding Board consultation that received feedback from MS on the draft working document 
• Working Package 3: Conducted quality control and finalised content sourced from Work Package 2 and developed a working document on the indicator(s) that could potentially be used for the assessment of the impact of the CAP on animal welfare.

The outcomes of the TWG will be considered by the European Commission for future developments in the field.