Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 29 May 2018 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Nederlandstalige rechtbank van eerste aanleg Brussel — Belgium) — Liga van Moskeeën en Islamitische Organisaties Provincie Antwerpen VZW and Others v Vlaams Gewest
(Case C-426/16) 1
(Reference for a preliminary ruling — Protection of animals at the time of killing — Particular methods of slaughter prescribed by religious rites — Muslim Feast of Sacrifice — Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 — Article 2(k) — Article 4(4) — Obligation for ritual slaughtering without stunning to be carried out in approved slaughterhouses which satisfy the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 — Validity — Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Article 10 — Freedom of religion — Article 13 TFEU — Respect for national customs with regard to religious rites)
Language of the case: Dutch
Referring court
Nederlandstalige rechtbank van eerste aanleg Brussel
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicants: Liga van Moskeeën en Islamitische Organisaties Provincie Antwerpen VZW, Unie van Moskeeën en Islamitische Verenigingen van Limburg VZW, Unie van Moskeeën en Islamitische Verenigingen Oost-Vlaanderen VZW, Unie der Moskeeën en Islamitische Verenigingen van West-Vlaanderen VZW, Unie der Moskeeën en Islamitische Verenigingen van Vlaams-Brabant VZW, Association Internationale Diyanet de Belgique IVZW, lslamitische Federatie van België VZW, Rassemblement des Musulmans de Belgique VZW, Erkan Konak, Chaibi El Hassan
Defendant: Vlaams Gewest
Intervening parties: Global Action in the Interest of Animals (GAIA) VZW
Operative part of the judgment
Examination of the question has not disclosed any issues capable of affecting the validity of Article 4(4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing, read together with Article 2(k) thereof, having regard to Article 10 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and Article 13 TFEU.
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1 OJ C 383, 17.10.2016.