Brussels, 14/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 14 September, the European Commission approved the national programmes intended to improve the production and marketing of beekeeping products for the period 2011-2013. The EU's contribution to the financing of these programmes has increased by nearly 25% compared to the previous period of 2008-2010.
The health of the beekeeping sector is vital given the fundamental role of bees for pollination. For several years the sector has been facing an unprecedented mortality of the bee population, which not only makes the economic situation difficult for beekeepers but also poses a threat to biodiversity. National programmes are currently the only tool available to partially offset the loss of bees. Member states have been satisfied with the benefits provided by these programmes and the positive effect of measures funded under national programmes on the sector is also widely recognised by beekeepers.
To this backdrop, the Commission has decided to increase the overall annual budget allocated to the co-funding of national programmes to €32 million per year for 2011, 2012 and 2013 compared to the EU co-financing of €26 million that was available during the period 2008-2010. All member states have presented a programme. These programmes cover a number of measures such as: control of varroasis, rationalisation of transhumance, support for laboratories, restocking of hives, applied research programmes and technical assistance. All 27 programmes are eligible for co-financing (with the EU budget covering 50% of total spending).
With the sum of €16.5 million (EU funds) over the 2011-2013 period, Spain (2.5 million hives, i.e. 17.5% of the total number of hives in the EU) ranks first among these programmes' beneficiary countries, ahead of Romania (€10.2 million, 1.3 million hives), Italy (€9 million, 1.1 million hives), Greece (€8.4 million, 1.5 million), France (€8.2 million, 1.3 million), and Poland (€7.5 million, 1.1 million hives). (L.C./transl.jl)