The Brussels regional parliament rejected a proposal to ban the slaughter of animals without stunning.
42 members of the parliament voted against the proposal, while 38 against and 8 abstained. The proposal had already been in the environment committe last week.
Parties in favour of rejecting the ban were the French-Speaking Socialist Party (PS), the Workers Party (PTB-PVDA), the Greens (Ecolo) and Les Engagés.
Parties mostly against the report, and for the ban, were Francophone conservative-liberals Mouvement Réformateur (MR), New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), Flemish Greens (Groen) and the Flemish liberals Open VLD. The remaining parties splite their vote.
Representatives of the religious communities concerned, including the President of the Coordinating Committee of Belgian Jewish Organisations (CCOJB), Yohan Benizri, addressed the parliament and spoke out against the proposed ban.
As a result of the vote, slaughter without stunning remains the rule in the Brussels-Capital Region, unlike two of Belgium’s other regions, Flanders and Wallonia which voted to ban it in 2017.
