Brussels, 02/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament's environment committee, which is chaired by Giovanni La Via (EPP, Italy), does not support the creation of a European list of 36 invasive alien species, believing that the list is incomplete and not based on scientific criteria.
On Monday 1 December, the committee voted by 51 votes to 16, with 1 abstention to oppose the European Commission proposal which forms part of future legislation to prevent the introduction of alien species and manage their spread in the EU (see EUROPE 11165).
The reasons behind the list of species in the proposed EU list are based not on scientific but rather on political criteria, the MEPs say in a resolution.
In light of this, they believe that the issue of invasive alien species will not be properly addressed when the European regulation is seeking to increase cooperation among the member states to tackle the threat more effectively.
The committee states that the proposal has already been criticised by several relevant national authorities, those involved in tackling the problem and public opinion, all of which have serious doubts over the future effectiveness of the regulation.
Most invasive alien species do not feature on the list while, at the same time, some species which cannot have a significant impact on biodiversity, ecosystem services, human health or the economy are listed, MEPs regret.
They believe that the European Commission has failed to comply with the provisions in the regulation on acceptable evidence and the methodology to be applied in assessing risk. There is nothing to guarantee, therefore, that the member states will correctly use the same type of evidence, they say.
The European Parliament, called on by the environment committee to object to the proposal, will put the matter to the vote in the plenary session in mid-December (14-17 December). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)