Question for written answerE-007202-17to the CommissionRule 130Kostas Chrysogonos(GUE/NGL), Giorgos Grammatikakis(S&D), Miltiadis Kyrkos(S&D), Stelios Kouloglou(GUE/NGL)(23 November 2017)Subject: The welfare of equidae

The welfare of equidae across Europe is being significantly undermined owing to a lack of enforcement of EU legislation on equine identification and registration, and the inadequacy of national laws in ensuring equine protection

See: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+REPORT+A8-2017-0014+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN; http://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/wp-content/uploads/EU-Equine-Report-Removing-the-Blinkers.pdf

. In Greece for example, a central database — a mandatory obligation pursuant to Regulation (EC) 2015/262 — has not been established.

Currently, equidae transported across the country for different purposes are accompanied by a document issued by vets, a certification system set up in 2002 and never updated since. Horses are therefore officially registered only by responsible owners or when imported.

The complete lack of enforcement of EU requirements makes it impossible to determine the real size of the equine population in Greece, facilitates illegal trade and leaves animal abandonment, cruelty and abuse to go unpunished.

Has the Commission investigated the enforcement of Regulation (EC) 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and Regulation (EC) 2015/262 on the identification and registration of equines in Greece and in other Member States?

What specific measures does the Commission intend to take to ensure that a central national database is established?