Fur Farming in the EU: The Beginning of the End?

Fur farming used to be a significant sector of the animal farming industry in the European Union (EU), but has undergone a precipitous decline over the past years. Growing ethical concerns concerning the treatment of animals in this industry, [1] and the resulting drop in consumer demand for products from real fur have driven a series of national bans. The industry was further disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, when Denmark ordered the culling of 17 million farmed mink and imposed a temporary ban on mink farming. [2] Nevertheless, EU law still does not prohibit the keeping and killing of animals primarily for their fur, and some Member States continue to engage in this industry. In 2023, there were approximately 1,088 active farms, housing an estimated 8.5 million mink, foxes and raccoon dogs. [3]

A potential EU-wide ban of this practice became the subject of a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), a participatory democracy mechanism allowing EU citizens to officially petition the EU executive branch, the European Commission, to take regulatory action on a given EU policy topic. While the Commission is not obligated to present a proposal required by the citizens, it must provide a formal reply. In 2023, “Fur Free Europe” ECI collected 1.5 million signatures, calling on the European Commission to propose a ban on both (i) the keeping and killing of animals for the sole or main purpose of fur production, and (ii) placement of farmed animal fur, and products containing such fur, on the EU market.

The ECI argued that fur farming is ethically unacceptable and a public health risk, as evidenced by the outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 on farms keeping mink, an animal with the highest likelihood to become infected from humans and other animals and further transmit the virus. [3] Moreover, as more than two-thirds of EU Member States have now adopted a full or partial ban on fur farming in their territories, [4]  the EU’s internal market has been distorted by significant discrepancies that exist in national legislations. A harmonized, EU-wide ban could remedy these discrepancies, and such a measure is supported by several Member States, which urged the Commission to prohibit fur farming in the EU back in 2021. [6]

Responding to the ECI, the European Commission mandated its advisory body, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), to provide a scientific opinion on the welfare of mink, foxes, raccoon dogs and chinchillas kept for fur. With these findings, the European Commission committed to assess, by March 2026, whether a prohibition is appropriate and would be proposed. [7] EFSA’s scientific opinion, published in July 2025, confirmed that fur farming is associated with a wide array of negative welfare consequences, such as inability to perform exploratory or foraging behavior, restriction of movement, sensorial under- and overstimulation, stress, locomotory disorders or soft tissue lesions. Crucially, EFSA emphasized that “[i]n the majority of cases, it is concluded that neither prevention nor substantial mitigation of the identified [welfare consequences] is possible in the current system.” [8]

Read in light of EU law, which prohibits the keeping of animals where detrimental effects to their health and welfare are unavoidable, [9] fur farming should be phased out as inherently incompatible with EU animal welfare standards. While no species-specific standards on the farming of fur animals have been adopted by the EU legislature, the EU ratified both the European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes and the recommendations of its Standing Committee, including those on fur animals, making them binding under EU law. These recommendations also provide that “no animal shall be kept for its fur if (...) the animal belongs to a species whose members, despite these conditions being met, cannot adapt to captivity without welfare problems.” [10]

In parallel, a notable regulatory development has emerged from another direction, as the European Commission recently added American mink (Neogale vison) to the EU list of invasive alien species under Regulation 1143/2014 through Implementing Regulation 2025/1422. Once the updated list takes effect on August 7, 2027, the keeping, breeding and farming of this species will be prohibited. Given that roughly 90% of the animals on EU fur farms are American mink, this means that the entire fur farming industry could be essentially reduced to Finland and, to some extent, Poland, where foxes are farmed, along with niche markets for raccoon dogs and chinchillas. [11] However, the EU legislation on invasive alien species allows for national derogations and Denmark has already announced their intention to apply for one, to pursue mink production. [12] Because the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) has been listed as invasive alien species since 2019, [13] and Finland and Poland were granted derogations to protect their national fur industries, reasonable doubts remain about the actual impact of this listing.

Despite the limitations of the EU legislation on invasive alien species in achieving a ban on fur farming, the prohibition on mink farming might be a prelude to a broader ban on all types of fur farming as part of the “Fur Free” ECI. The European Commission is now in the process of preparing its follow-up on the response to the ECI and launched a call for evidence during summer. The EU’s executive body is now weighing three options: proposing 1) a ban on both the production and sale of fur and fur products; 2) a ban on the production, while allowing imports of fur and fur products; or 3) strong, specific standards for the keeping of animals on fur farms, which would be allowed to continue their operation. Although the overall political momentum for improving animal farming appears limited under the current term, the case against fur farming may nevertheless prove strong enough to secure an EU-wide ban.

Gabriela Kubíková
The European Institute for Animal Law & Policy
Brussels, Belgium

***

[1] 57% of EU citizens believe that fur farming should be banned. European Commission. 2023. Special Eurobarometer 533: Attitudes of Europeans towards Animal Welfare. Available here.
[2] Bekendtgørelse af lov om aflivning af og midlertidigt forbud mod hold af mink (LBK nr 10 af 06/01/2022), Bekendtgørelse af lov om aflivning af og midlertidigt forbud mod hold af mink (LBK nr 1211 af 07/06/2021), Lov om aflivning af og midlertidigt forbud mod hold af mink (LOV nr 2185 af 29/12/2020).
[3] Communication from the Commission on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) Fur Free Europe, C/2023/8362, OJ C, C/2023/1559, 21.12.2023.
[4] European Food Safety Authority. 2023. “SARS‐CoV‐2 in Animals: Susceptibility of Animal Species, Risk for Animal and Public Health, Monitoring, Prevention and Control.” EFSA Journal 21, no. 2. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2023.7822.
[5] Fur Free Alliance. 2025. Overview of National Legislation on Fur Farming: General Provisions. February 2025. https://www.furfreealliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Overview-national-fur-legislation-General-Provisions.pdf [Accessed 9 September 2025].
[6] Council of the European Union, Fur Farming in the European Union - Information from the Netherlands and Austrian delegations, supported by the Belgian, German, Luxembourg and Slovak delegations, 10111/21.
[7] Communication from the Commission on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) Fur Free Europe, C/2023/8362, OJ C, C/2023/1559, 21.12.2023.
[8] European Food Safety Authority. 2025. “Welfare of American Mink, Red and Arctic Foxes, Raccoon Dog and Chinchilla Kept for Fur Production.” EFSA Journal 23, no. 7. Available here.
[9] Point 21 of Annex to Council Directive 98/58/EC of 20 July 1998 concerning the protection of animals kept for farming purposes, OJ L 221, 8.8.1998, pp. 27.
[10] Art. 1(4)(b) of Recommendation concerning Fur Animals adopted by the Standing Committee of the European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes (T-AP) on 22 June 1999 (In accordance with Article 9, paragraph 3 of the Convention, this Recommendation entered into force on 22 December 1999).
[11] Communication from the Commission on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) Fur Free Europe, C/2023/8362, OJ C, C/2023/1559, 21.12.2023.
[12] Styrelsen for Grøn Arealomlægning og Vandmiljø. 2025. “Mink kommer på EU’s liste over invasive arter.” June 2025. Available here. [Accessed 9 September 2025].
[13] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1263 of 12 July 2017 updating the list of invasive alien species of Union concern established by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1141 pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council, OJ L 182, 13.7.2017, pp. 37–39.