29/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - Parliament written declaration on Asian hornet. Fourteen MEPs, including Maria Lidia Senra Rodriguez (GUE/NGL, Spain) José Bové (Greens/EFA, France) and Éric Andrieu (S&D, France), submitted a draft Parliamentary written declaration on 27 April calling for a European strategy to combat the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax), which can be found in France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Italy. It asks the Commission to find the money to offer financial aid to beekeepers and to compensate losses caused by the hornet. Tree fruit production is also affected. If the written declaration (which is not binding on Parliament) is signed by over half the total number of MEPs, it will be published in the minutes of Parliament's sittings and sent to the EU institutions. (LC)