Following review of a petition that gathered one million signatures, the European Commission will introduce legislation in 2023 to eventually ban all cage housing of animals by 2027.  Laying hens, sows and calves are already covered by E.U. rules. Egg-producing hens can be accommodated in enriched colonies but conventional battery cages were banned effective January 1st 2012. In 2019 approximately 40 percent of E.U. hens were housed in enriched colony modules that would be disallowed in terms of proposed legislation.

The E.U. Commissioner of Health, Dr. Stella Kyriakides stated, "animals are sentient beings and we have a moral, societal responsibility to ensure that on-farm conditions for animals reflect this".

Producers in the E.U. can apply for grants from a $1 billion COVID-19 recovery fund to help with transition to alternative housing.