On 14th April 2026, the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels was transformed into a canvas for animal protection publicity stunt, as campaigners from the animal welfare organisation Animal Equality projected messages onto the Berlaymont building highlighting what they describe as institutional complicity in farmed animal exploitation.
The nighttime action illuminated the façade with the words “Factory Farming Headquarters”, alongside images of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Health and Animal Welfare Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, and Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen. Messages calling to “Ban cages” and “End the killing of male chicks” were also displayed, drawing attention to long-standing demands from animal protection advocates across Europe.
The protest followed an analysis conducted by campaigners of 708 publicly recorded meetings listed in the EU Transparency Register. According to their findings, Commissioners Várhelyi and Hansen met representatives of the animal farming sector at least 46 times over 15 months to discuss animal welfare issues, a figure they say is seven times higher than meetings held with animal protection organisations. They also reported that terms such as “cage” and “chick culling” did not appear in any of the meeting subject lines.
Campaigners argue that this reflects a systemic failure to address the plight of animals used in farming, with an estimated 300 million individuals confined in cages across the EU and millions of male chicks killed shortly after birth.
Animal Equality stated in an email to supporters, “We lit up the Berlaymont building with a message the institution cannot ignore: ‘Factory Farming Headquarters.’ … The building didn’t change, but for one night, it told the truth…We are naming it for what it is: regulatory capture at the highest level of European governance.”
The European Commission has faced mounting pressure to deliver updated animal welfare legislation, which campaigners say has been repeatedly delayed despite legal and political obligations. Recent months have seen growing mobilisation, including a European Citizens’ Initiative that gathered over one million signatures and demonstrations in Brussels involving activists from across the continent.
