As a normal principle of the EU - it is unlawful for one member state to have in place an absolute ban on, or to have quotas in place, which prevent another member state from importing items they manufacture into that member state.
The law behind this principle of free trade comes from Article 34 of TFEU.
However, Article 36 allows member states to prevent imports if "justified on grounds of...protection of health and life of humans, animals or plants".
So you could be forgiven for thinking that the UK would be justified in concluding that because birds suffer terrible cruelty in order to make Foie Gras - that the UK would be at liberty to ban its importation to reduce the demand for it (from the more irresponsible UK consumer) and therefore to promote the protection of animals.
Unfortunately - this is not the case! (See the case of Hedley Lomas in another blog)
So we are in a position where the UK has no choice but to permit the importation of this Franken-food because as a nation - we were gullible enough to sign-up to the EU free trade arrangements!
But we would argue that the root of this problem isn't in the UK's membership of the EU - but rather, it is the lack of moral leadership within the EU which tolerates the continuing production of Foie gras which requires a remedy.
The EU needs bold new leadership - a leadership which exhibits strong moral purpose and courage. Which isn't reluctant to name and shame cruel activities within the Union and to limit them through punitive taxation, removing protections currently afforded to them by the possibility of exploiting honest and well meaning trade agreements.
The true problem lies somewhere at the intersection between weak moral leadership, greedy commercialism and a lack of democratic accountability in the EU.
If we had strong leaders exhibiting strong ethical principles - they would robustly speak out on issues such as foie gras, bull fighting, fur farming, the wilful neglect of dogs in public shelters in Eastern Europe etc.
If we had a popular referendum across the EU on these issues - there is a good chance the public would vote to render illegal these immoral practices.
Is it fair to say the EU suffers from a democratic deficit? (You decide)
UPDATE
The Indian Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued a notification stating that the importation of foie gras is revised from ‘free’ to ‘prohibited’. This follows a successful campaign by Animal Equality after they investigated the foie gras industry in the EU.
Their investigation can be explored here: http://www.foiegrasfarms.org/
The law behind this principle of free trade comes from Article 34 of TFEU.
However, Article 36 allows member states to prevent imports if "justified on grounds of...protection of health and life of humans, animals or plants".
So you could be forgiven for thinking that the UK would be justified in concluding that because birds suffer terrible cruelty in order to make Foie Gras - that the UK would be at liberty to ban its importation to reduce the demand for it (from the more irresponsible UK consumer) and therefore to promote the protection of animals.
Unfortunately - this is not the case! (See the case of Hedley Lomas in another blog)
So we are in a position where the UK has no choice but to permit the importation of this Franken-food because as a nation - we were gullible enough to sign-up to the EU free trade arrangements!
But we would argue that the root of this problem isn't in the UK's membership of the EU - but rather, it is the lack of moral leadership within the EU which tolerates the continuing production of Foie gras which requires a remedy.
The EU needs bold new leadership - a leadership which exhibits strong moral purpose and courage. Which isn't reluctant to name and shame cruel activities within the Union and to limit them through punitive taxation, removing protections currently afforded to them by the possibility of exploiting honest and well meaning trade agreements.
The true problem lies somewhere at the intersection between weak moral leadership, greedy commercialism and a lack of democratic accountability in the EU.
If we had strong leaders exhibiting strong ethical principles - they would robustly speak out on issues such as foie gras, bull fighting, fur farming, the wilful neglect of dogs in public shelters in Eastern Europe etc.
If we had a popular referendum across the EU on these issues - there is a good chance the public would vote to render illegal these immoral practices.
Is it fair to say the EU suffers from a democratic deficit? (You decide)
UPDATE
The Indian Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued a notification stating that the importation of foie gras is revised from ‘free’ to ‘prohibited’. This follows a successful campaign by Animal Equality after they investigated the foie gras industry in the EU.
Their investigation can be explored here: http://www.foiegrasfarms.org/