: In the mid-1960s, representatives of the European Communities (EC) took note of the growing concern among the scientific community and civil society about the welfare of animals in livestock farming. The directive on the protection of laying hens kept in battery cages, called for by the EC Council in 1979 and adopted in 1988, was the first regulation on the living conditions of farm animals at the Community level. It simply lays down minimum standards: this article examines in particular the provision that “laying hens must have at least 450 cm² of cage space.” However, this legislative process was motivated less by concern for animals than by the urgent need for European integration, and more specifically, the harmonization of the European agricultural market. Although it explicitly aims to “protect battery-farmed laying hens,” this directive does not actually protect laying hens, but provides a standard for strengthening trade within the free market and ultimately defines animal products as just another co[...]