A “misinterpretation” of European guidelines has led to veal calves being kept in isolation in the Netherlands for years, in contravention of EU rules, the NRC reports.

The directive, introduced in 2008, states that newborn calves have to be kept in pens with “perforated walls which allow the calves to have visual and tactile contact”.

The law which covers the conditions under which calves are held, includes the proviso that calves be “kept next to each other”, a phrase that is absent from the EU directive. The Dutch rules also say it is enough “if calves can see each other when looking over the pen walls,” which is also nowhere to be found in the directive.

This has led to calves being kept next to empty pens or at a distance from each other, a situation that cannot be remedied by monitoring body NVWA because it is not against the law.

“Calves suffer three times over,” Leonie Vestering of animal protection organisation Wakker Dier told the paper. “Europe offers the absolute minimum, the Dutch government watered that down and the NVWA looks the other way.”

The NVWA said as early as 2015 that there seemed to be “a discrepancy” between the EU rules and Dutch law, but has taken no action to remedy the situation. It told the paper, the “guidelines were not binding in themselves but have to be implemented in Dutch law. That means Dutch cattle farmers have to keep to Dutch law.”

German animal protection legal expert Barbara Felde said many member states “misinterpret” EU directives when they are adopted into national law, to protect cattle farmers, “which is, of course, illegal”. “But if that is the case then Dutch farmers cannot be held to the EU rules,” she said.

Farmers organisation LTO declined to comment on the number of farmers who keep calves in solitary pens. Research by Wakker Dier into companies that sell pens indicates most do not comply with European rules and have solid walls.

The only research in the area dates from 2016 and showed that nine out of 10 calves are kept single pens although experts are saying that group pens are gaining in popularity.

European food safety agency EFSA has advised banning all individual pens for newborn calves, saying they are detrimental to the social behaviour, the ability to eat, and the social development of the animals.

The NVWA said an internet consultation will take place next year about “a sector-by-sector inventory of which measures they will take to ensure a more humane treatment of cattle in 2040”.

Wakker Dier said that is not good enough. “What good is that to the many calves that are alone in small pens? We need a minister who keeps to the rules and starts to police them,” Vestering said.