Resolution on the EU Pollinators Initiative

The European Parliament adopted a resolution tabled by the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety on the EU Pollinators Initiative.

In the EU alone, 78 % of wild flower species depend, at least in part, on animal pollination. Healthy pollinators are essential for agricultural activity in the Union, given that 84 % of crop species and 76 % of European food production depend on insect pollination. Up to EUR 15 billion of the EU’s annual agricultural output can be directly attributed to pollinators.

In April 2018, the EU agreed to fully ban the outdoor use of imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, known as neonicotinoids. However, several Member States notified emergency exemptions regarding their use on their territory.

Members recognised the added value of the EU Pollinators Initiative in setting strategic objectives and a series of urgent actions to be taken by the EU and its Member States to protect pollinators. They considered, however, that the initiative fails to sufficiently address the many causes of pollinator decline, which include land-use changes, loss of habitats and their connectedness, intensive agricultural management practices, plant protection products, environmental pollution, the effects of pathogens and parasites such as the Varroa destructor mite, climate change and invasive alien species.

They urged the Commission to integrate the EU Pollinators Initiative and its results into the development of the post-2020 EU Biodiversity Strategy, and to transform the aims of the initiative into a full-scale action programme for pollinators, earmarking sufficient resources to this end.

Reducing pesticide dependency

The resolution noted that a pesticide reduction plan, with clear targets, milestones and timelines, should be set out in each Member State’s National Action Plan, and that pesticide reduction should be set as a ‘common indicator’ with which to monitor success. The Commission and the Member States are called on to ensure the provision of high-quality advice to farmers, through national and regional farm advisory systems, on how to promote and protect biodiversity and pollinators. Members called for an extension on the ban imposed on imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam to all neonicotinoid-based pesticides.

Professional users of plant protection products should, for at least three years, keep detailed records of the use, area, timing and dose of application of the products. The relevant information recorded should be available to the competent authority on request, in order to monitor adherence to the cross-compliance rules and to track the performance of the CAP in terms of reductions in pesticide use across the EU.

Beekeeping sector

The Commission and Member States are called on to support the beekeeping sector by reinforcing import inspections in order to avoid imports of adulterated honey and by adopting compulsory honey origin labelling (with each country’s name) for honey mixtures. Parliament insisted, in particular, with regard to honeybees (Apis mellifera), on the role of research into the causes of the reduction in the life expectancy of queen bees, which is a worrying phenomenon. Increased funding is called for basic and applied research on pollinators and the development of treatments against new diseases, parasites and viruses affecting them, and to invest in strengthening and expanding the pool of taxonomic expertise, including through the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.