The protection of insects was at the heart of discussions within the European Union on Monday.

The Agriculture Ministers of the 27 have agreed on how to take into account, in the evaluation of pesticides, their effects on bee colonies.

This decision will pave the way for new measures against the decline of these crucial insects for pollination.

Pesticides can only be authorized in the EU if "a full risk assessment" has shown that there is no harm to human health and "unacceptable" effects on the environment, but the criteria for assessing the impact on bees had not changed since 2002, according to the European Commission.

Ministers initially very divided

Seized in March 2019 by the European executive, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has drawn up several scenarios making it possible to set “specific objectives” for the protection of honey bees in the evaluation of pesticides.

Among the various methods proposed, the ministers concluded on Monday that setting an "acceptable" reduction threshold for the size of bee colonies "offered sufficient protection".

While the states were initially very divided on the level of this threshold, they finally agreed on "a maximum reduction rate" of 10% in the size of bee colonies throughout the EU. A greater decline in the bee population would therefore be considered critical. Several states are also pleading for further lowering this threshold.

"The ministers agreed on the need to increase the ambitions of the EU in the protection of honey bees while ensuring that the measures can be implemented by the states," said the press release of the 27 without further clarification. .

According to the UN, cited by the European Council, bees pollinate 71 of the 100 cultivated species providing 90% of the world's food.

However, in recent years, the collapse of populations of pollinating insects, which are very vulnerable to pesticides, threatens agricultural production.

The French plan on pesticides

The French government has also put this Monday in consultation a "pollinator plan" to counter the decline of bees.

It had been promised by Paris in August 2020 after the temporary reintroduction of neonicotinoid insecticides, qualified as "bee killers", for the cultivation of beet.

This French plan plans to assess the risk of all pesticides, including herbicides and fungicides, for pollinators with a view to a possible restriction, or even ban, of treatment on attractive flowering crops, which today only applies to insecticides.

Planet

In Overseas France, the use of pesticides is "3 to 4 times more frequent" than in mainland France, according to ANSES

Planet

In Germany, the use of pesticides restricted in certain areas to protect insects

  • Pesticides

  • Bees

  • Pollen

  • Agriculture

  • EU

  • Planet

  • Video