written/translated by: Georgia Blackwell

Press Releases from the EVU

Brussels, November 2002


Contribution to the European Convention


The European Vegetarian Union, an umbrella organisation serving the interests of millions of vegetarians in Europe, welcomes the opportunity to address some points of concern relevant to the approaching enlargement of the European Community.

This new political unit with its around 453 million citizens will, by its sheer size, bring about considerable changes. Promising new developments are certainly going to generally reinforce the position of Europe but it is also to be expected that existing unsolved problems will be exacerbated.

These are some of the topics of our special concerns:

Food Safety: Major problems for public health safety regarding meat consumption are still not under control. To give just one example: BSE: In spite of all efforts, including the culling of millions of animals, the situation seems to have been considerably misjudged in the past (AP on 9 Oct 2002: “the mad cow disease epidemic of the 1990s infected about a million more cows than scientists previously estimated, according to a study published Wednesday. Scientists with Imperial College in London said their research indicated that nearly 2 million cows had been infected with mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Previous estimates put the number of infected cows at 1.05 million”) and is not under control even now (AP on the same day: “Italy reports 75th case of mad cow disease”; and AFP informed on 23 October about the 11th BSE case in Denmark).

Subsidies: Recently the EU stated that “... In the beef sector, since the beginning of the second BSE crisis in October 2000, new measures have been taken in order to reduce the growing surplus of supply over demand ...”

Such initiatives are reassuring. But should the firm refusal of some member states to accept more efficient regulatory tools not be overcome, the unacceptable situation of overproduction will worsen even more in the larger European community (the UK Representation of the EU: ”Eastwards enlargement of the EU will lead to an increase in farmland, a doubling of the agricultural labour force, and potential overproduction of sugar, milk and meat …”).

Meat consumption: The advantages of a plant based diet [i](see also recommendations WHO 2003) are becoming increasingly apparent and the warnings about excessive meat consumption are getting more frequent and explicit but in spite of concerns from doctors, scientists, environmentalists, and organisations working in the interest of animals, the support of the meat market remains a prime target in all national and EU economic contexts. However, alternatives are available to this traditional diet and they are even more advantageous from a health, economic, ecological and ethical point of view.

For all vegetarian organisations it is of the highest priority to publish facts and figures about the benefits of plant-based diets. We intend to seize the possibilities offered by the upcoming enlargement to promote our philosophy as a favourable way into the future: it improves food security and by that leads to better health for humans, saves natural and financial resources, assists in the fight against injustice and global hunger and, last but by no means least, diminishes animal misery.

Even though in Europe the number of vegetarians is growing fast, their right to appropriate food is often not respected. Hence a bill needs to be passed ensuring a plant-based alternative in all state-subsidized facilities (hospital, schools etc).



So the European Vegetarian Union calls upon European decision makers to
– accept vegetarianism officially as a valid and beneficial diet
– accept a vegetarian diet as a human rights principle
– grant human health and animal-well being priority over economic interests
– negotiate ways to stop subsidising production over demand
– refrain from “exporting” factory farming schemes to joining countries.

All these endeavours will have the complete assistance of the Board and the members of the European Vegetarian Union.


Dr. Igor Bukovsky
President
European Vegetarian Union e-mail
website: www.european-vegetarian.org

[i]http://www.internethealthlibrary.com/DietandLifestyle/Vegetarianism-research.htm