Case C‑426/16

Liga van Moskeeën en Islamitische Organisaties Provincie Antwerpen VZW and Others

v

Vlaams Gewest

(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Nederlandstalige rechtbank van eerste aanleg Brussel)

(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 835/2004 — 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)

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber), 29 May 2018

1.        Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Admissibility — Need for a preliminary ruling and relevance of the questions referred — Assessment by the national court — Presumption of relevance of the questions referred

2.        Fundamental rights — European Convention on Human Rights — Instrument not formally integrated into the EU legal order

(Art. 6(3) TEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 52(3))

3.        Fundamental rights — Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion – Concept of religion — Scope

(Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 10(1))

4.        Agriculture — Approximation of laws – Protection of animals at the time of killing — Obligation for slaughtering to be carried out in slaughterhouses which satisfy the technical requirements relating to the construction, layout and equipment required by Regulation No 853/2004 – Violation of the freedom of religion —None

(Art. 13 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 10; European Parliament and Council Regulation No 853/2004; Council Regulation No 1099/2009, Arts 2(k) and 4(4))

5.        EU law — Principles — Proportionality — Scope — Discretion of the EU legislature — Judicial review — Limits — Assessment in the light of the information available at the time of the adoption of the measure – Consideration of the situation across all Member States

(Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 10; Council Regulation No 1099/2009, Art. 2(k) and 4(4))

1.      See the text of the decision.

(see paras 30-35)

2.      See the text of the decision.

(see para. 40)

3.      See the text of the decision.

(see paras 43, 44)

4.      The examination of the question referred for a preliminary ruling 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.

In that context, it must be held that, by laying down the obligation to carry out ritual slaughter in an approved slaughterhouse, which satisfies the requirements of Regulation No 853/2004, Article 4(4) of Regulation No 1099/2009, read together with Article 2(k) thereof, simply aims to organise and manage, from a technical point of view, the freedom to carry out slaughter without prior stunning for religious purposes. That technical framework is not in itself of such a nature as to place a restriction on the right to freedom of religion of practising Muslims. First, it must be recalled that Article 4(4) of Regulation No 1099/2009, read together with Article 2(k) thereof, makes ritual slaughter subject to the same technical conditions as those which apply, in principle, to any slaughter of animals within the European Union, regardless of the method followed. Second, it must be stated that, having laid down such technical specifications, the EU legislature reconciles compliance with the specific methods of slaughter prescribed by religious rites with those of the essential rules laid down by Regulations No 1099/2009 and No 853/2004 with regard to the protection of the well-being of animals at the time of killing and the health of all consumers of meat

(see paras 58-60, 62, 84, operative part)

5.      See the text of the decision.

(see paras 71, 72, 74)