The Austrian beekeeping associations and environmental organizations have called on their Minister of Agriculture, Elisabeth Köstinger, to vote against the relaxation of the Bee Directive in Brussels.
By doing so, Austria would join the opposition against the European Commission's proposal to approve the use of several pesticides that are harmful to bees.
The agriculture ministers of EU countries have been divided for years over a 'Bee Directive' that sets which chemical crop protection products may be used in agriculture. The decision on loosening the criteria will be made behind closed doors on Thursday during a closed meeting in Brussels.
If the European Commission’s proposal receives majority support from the EU countries, a higher bee mortality rate will be accepted in the future than is currently the case. The now proposed relaxation is seen as a concession to those EU countries that have resisted the 'EFSA Bee Guidance' since 2013, which set strict limits on the use of excessive crop protection products.
“Considering the decline in biodiversity, this Commission proposal is scandalous,” explained Christian Boigenzahn, director of the beekeepers’ association, to the Austrian press.
Helmut Burtscher-Schaden, initiator of the European Citizens' Initiative “Save bees and farmers,” added: “The proposal was developed behind closed doors, without input from the EFSA committees and without the participation of independent scientists. It bears the signature of the pesticide industry.”
Although the 2013 EFSA Bee Directive considers honeybee losses up to seven percent as “natural” and therefore acceptable, the new system might consider losses up to 20% as natural. According to critics, this approach lacks any scientific basis. Wild bees, which are usually far more sensitive than honeybees, and other insects are not accounted for at all at this time.
Scientists have previously raised the alarm about bee mortality. Research by Australian and Chinese scientists, who studied 73 insect studies from the past 30 years, shows that 40 percent of the insects on Earth are threatened with extinction due to habitat loss and pesticide use.
That is why the Bee Guidance was established in 2013. It includes test methods to determine the risks of pesticides for bees. The Netherlands finds the current tests too strict and wants to significantly reduce the number of tests.