Advancing animal welfare: state, society and economy

This chapter considers farm animal welfare as a public good and examines the role of legislators and public bodies in adopting animal welfare standards in accordance with the democratic process, with a focus on the European Union (EU) and its pioneer status in advancing animal welfare law. Private prima facie voluntary standards of animal welfare co-exist alongside public standards, or as substitutes in the absence of the latter. Vital questions arise, inter alia, as to the extent to which the EU may defer to private standardisation bodies