Brussels, 26/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - Experts of the 27 EU member states await the results of a vote that is crucial for the survival of bees, on Monday 29 April. As member state experts failed very narrowly to take a stance either for or against the European Commission's proposal to suspend the use of three neonicotinoid pesticides that are most toxic for bees (imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and chlothianidin), the European Commission has now decided to turn to the appeals committee for a verdict (see EUROPE 10813 and 10809).
“Despite an overwhelming and growing body of evidence on the disastrous impact of these pesticides on pollinators, there are real concerns that EU governments could reject the Commission's proposal, following intense lobbying from industry. Instead of defending the short-term interests of the agro-chemical industry, EU governments and politicians should be prioritising solutions to the decline of bee populations: the easiest and fastest acting of these is banning these neonicotinoid insecticides”, said Bart Staes (Greens/EFA, Belgium), on Friday. He went on to underline that the two-year moratorium proposed by the European Commission in January this year on the basis of the scientific opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) “is only a first step”. In his view, only a total ban on all neonicotinoids would allow bee populations to be saved. Ninety MEPs from all political groups have, moreover, written to Commissioner Tonio Borg calling for such a measure. In March, 13 countries within the Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health (SCFCAH) (including France, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium to name but a few) supported the measure relating to a temporary ban. (AN/transl.jl)