EUROPEAN INSTITUTE FOR ANIMAL LAW AND POLICY (EIALP) & THE SCHOOL FOR MORAL AMBITION (SMA)

EU ANIMAL WELFARE LITIGATION

We helped advance EU Animal Welfare Litigation Through a Strategic Partnership between a major law firms and the European Institute for Animal Law & Policy

A New Push for EU Animal Welfare Litigation

Pro Publico was proud to match The European Institute for Animal Law & Policy (EIALP) and The School for Moral Ambition (SMA) with a major international law firm to explore new opportunities for EU animal welfare litigation.

This collaboration aims to shift how farmed animals are protected across the Union.

The need for this work is clear. The Commission withdrew its promised revision of the EU’s farm animal welfare rules in 2023. This setback halted efforts to ban cages, end chick culling and improve the conditions of fish and other farmed animals. The organisations involved wanted to explore alternative legal routes to secure progress where legislative efforts had previously stalled.

The Beneficiaries and Their Mission

EIALP is the first Brussels-based think-and-do tank dedicated to animal law and policy. Their work focuses on improving how animals are treated under EU and national frameworks, supporting civil society with expert analysis, training and monitoring. Their long-term goal is simple and ambitious: ensure that animals are treated as sentient beings, in line with Article 13 TFEU.

SMA brings a complementary perspective. Their mission is to inspire highly talented individuals to work on the world’s most pressing issues through “moral ambition”. By nurturing peer communities and fellowship programmes, they help people dedicate their careers to high-impact solutions. Animal welfare is among their priority areas.

These organisations joined forces to identify concrete legal pathways to challenge systemic mistreatment of farmed animals. To do so, they seeked expert guidance on EU procedures, causes of action and standing possibilities.

Why Pro Bono Help Was Needed

EIALP aims to build a litigation programme that can strategically target the most harmful agricultural practices, from cage systems to painful mutilations.

However, EU litigation is complex. Understanding jurisdictional routes, standing before the CJEU, and the interplay between national proceedings and preliminary references requires specialist knowledge.

They sought pro bono research to evaluate the feasibility of litigation-based strategies, ideally through the lens of economic law. Professionals with EU-level experience in corporate, financial, consumer and competition law were particularly relevant.

That is why we facilitated the partnership with a team capable of meeting these needs.

The Provider: a committed Global Law Firm

Starting from the initiative of their most committed pro bono partner, one of the world’s leading law firms agreed to support the request. They put together a team of lawyers combining EU regulatory and litigation expertise – who made them an ideal partner for this research.

How the Law Firm Delivered the Research

The team analysed legal avenues to bring animal welfare issues before EU courts. They reviewed available procedures under EU law, possible causes of action, and realistic pathways to secure judicial scrutiny.

Their work involved:

  • Studying existing EU farm animal welfare rules and gaps in enforcement based on the EIALP’s findings.

  • Reviewing litigation options before the CJEU, including failures to act and infringement-related strategies.

  • Assessing national routes capable of generating preliminary references.

  • Evaluating how economic law tools (including competition, consumer and corporate frameworks) could reinforce animal welfare claims.

  • Building on the beneficiary’s foundational report For a More Humane Union to identify areas with the strongest potential for impact.

The team of lawyers delivered high-quality, practical guidance that allowed EIALP to refine the design of their forthcoming litigation programme.

The Result and Impact

EIALP’s executive director Alice Di Concetto expressed strong appreciation for the collaboration. As she shared: “We’re very satisfied with the collaboration: the team of lawyers has provided high-quality and useful research. At the Institute, we’ll be launching our Litigation Program in January to further explore litigation options, together with other organisations based in the Member States.”

The work enabled EIALP to structure its strategic litigation efforts with clarity and confidence. For SMA, the work deepened their understanding of the potential for improving animal lives using EU policy as a lever for change, thereby informing their talent guidance towards impactful animal welfare initiatives.

This collaboration demonstrates how targeted pro bono support can unlock new possibilities for systemic change – especially when navigating technical EU procedures.

If your organisation needs legal or public affairs guidance to advance a mission-driven project, submit your case through Pro Publico’s platform or reach out to learn more about our matchmaking process.

👉 Submit your case via our intake form

📬 Subscribe to our newsletter

🔍 Explore more impact stories

Thanks to @European Institute for Animal Law & Policy @School for Moral Ambition @Alice Di Concetto @Jan-Willem van Putten @Linne van der Meulen @Pro Publico

#ProBono #EUlaw #AnimalWelfare #StrategicLitigation #PublicInterestLaw #FarmAnimalWelfare #RuleOfLaw #CivilSociety #AccessToJustice #ProPublico #CollectiveImpact #LegalInnovation #Nonprofits