The article highlights the importance of protecting animal health in the European Union, with a focus on France as an export-oriented country with high-value livestock production. It discusses the negative economic and socio-economic impacts of animal diseases, both directly and indirectly, and the role of the state in combating them. The implementation of the EU's Animal Health Law in April 2021 to harmonize rules on transmissible animal diseases is mentioned. The article also alerts readers to the risk of diseases like African swine fever and porcine epidemic diarrhea, emphasizing the need for vigilance to prevent their spread into Europe and the severe economic and agricultural consequences they can cause.