 The European Union Council Directive 1999/74/EC banned conventional battery cages in the EU from January 2012 for welfare reasons.This has led to a significant decrease in the number of eggs from battery cages in the EU.The 2012 battery cage ban was publicised as heralding an end to caged hens throughout Europe, but it created a widely held misconception that all laying hens in the UK are now either free range or barn birds.