Defending Animal Protection in France – Key Challenges & Opportunities

By Melvin Josse @ 2025-03-09T22:06 (+1)

Dear FAST Members, Fellow Advocates,

The political landscape for animal protection in France is at a turning point. While we have made significant progress, we now face growing backlash fueled by agribusiness lobbies and shifting political priorities.

🚨 Challenges Ahead

Several alarming trends illustrate this shift:

• 📜 Legislative threats: In 2024, we narrowly escaped “gag amendments” that could have severely restricted animal protection NGOs by limiting funding, speech, and investigative activities. While rejected in public session, they passed in committee for the first time, signaling growing political support for such measures.
• 💰 Funding cuts: Lawmakers have proposed major budget reductions for environmental agencies, threatening public funding for sustainable agriculture, plant-based food transitions, and animal welfare oversight.
• ⚖️ Criminalization of activism: A new bill seeks to criminalize actions disrupting agricultural, hunting, and slaughterhouse activities. This could severely penalize peaceful activism, including whistleblowing, undercover investigations, and protests—a clear attempt to silence dissent.
• 📰 Hostile narratives fueling legal threats: A recent event in parliament promoted a report accusing U.S. funding of animal activism of destabilizing French agriculture. This conspiracy-driven narrative has already influenced a proposed law increasing penalties against activism.

This backlash is unfolding amid political instability, economic constraints, and a rising conservative influence across Europe—factors that risk deprioritizing animal protection.

⚡ The Opportunity

Despite these challenges, political uncertainty creates leverage. With parties in constant electoral positioning, we can keep animal welfare on the agenda through strategic pressure. CAP recently fought for food transition and farmed animals welfare measures in the Agricultural Orientation Law, securing the submission of 47 amendments—demonstrating that persistence pays off.

🐾 About CAP

Founded in 2017, CAP (Convergence Animaux Politique) represents 25 French animal NGOs, ensuring that animal protection remains a political priority. By building cross-party alliances, we have secured major legislative wins, including the 2021 bans on wild animals in circuses and fur production.

In 2025, we will focus on resisting backlash, keeping animal issues visible, and leveraging European opportunities—such as the Danish EU presidency—to push for plant-based transitions.

🔹 Read more about our strategy and upcoming actions here.