Questions about the livestock vessels Elbeik and Karim Allah, which operate from EU ports

Priority question for written answer  P-001010/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Anja Hazekamp (The Left)

Two EU‑approved vessels – Elbeik, which is carrying 1 776 cows, and Karim Allah, which is carrying 895 cows – left the Spanish ports of Tarragona and Cartagena in mid‑December 2020, but were refused permission to enter Libya in mid‑January 2021 because some of the animals on board were sick or suspected of having bluetongue disease. They have been sailing from port to port for the last two months[1].

• 1.What steps has the Commission taken, since it was informed of this situation by the Animal Welfare Foundation on 12 February 2021, to end the suffering of the animals on board these two vessels and prevent similar cases occurring in the future (e.g. intervening and supporting national authorities in solving administrative and bureaucratic problems or suspending live animal exports)?
• 2.What is the status of the Commission’s analysis of TRACES (TRAde Control and Expert System) data, the aim of which is to compile a list of operators who have repeatedly committed serious offences and share it with the national authorities[2], as already requested by Parliament in 2019[3]?
• 3.Will you instruct the competent authorities in Croatia and Romania to withdraw their certificates of approval for the Elbeik and the Karim Allah in the light of these two cases and 14 other detentions of the same vessels between 2000 and 2020, and notify, without delay, all Member States of this decision[4]?

• [1] https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/news/new-animal-welfare-crisis-eu-bovines-stuck-two-months-sea-after-departing-spain
• [2] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2020-002668-ASW_EN.html
• [3] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/A-8-2019-0057_EN.html
• [4] Article 26(7) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 of 22 December 2004 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations