Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-19-Speech-3-430"
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"en.20081119.27.3-430"2
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"− Madam President, I truly believe that this was a very fruitful discussion with many ideas not only for my colleague but for the DG AGRI services, as well as for my services and others. Many of the Directorates General other than DG AGRI are working on the issue we are discussing today: DG SANCO, DG Research and DG Environment. It is really a multidisciplinary issue. When we talk about how much funding is actually committed to this, I think that we will have to look at various other areas as well.
Finally, the best solution to guarantee a future for the sector is to encourage consumption of EU honey. Since 2004, honey has been added to the list of eligible products for promotion on the internal market and several programmes have been accepted.
My answer was longer because I just wanted to make it clear to you that we are taking these actions seriously and that you should count on us – definitely also in my area – to continue to do so. Thank you for your attention and for staying so long.
Let me come first to many of your questions concerning what we are doing, what is in the pipeline and what we actually mean when we talk about research in the bee sector. In the Sixth Framework Programme, a specific target research project on food quality and safety priority was named ‘Bees in Europe and Sustainable Honey Production’ (BEE SHOP). This gathers together nine European honey bee research groups specialising in honey quality, pathology, genetics and behaviour. Do not be misled: FP6 projects are the ones that are already running; FP7 projects are just starting.
In addition, the specific support action ‘Bee Research and Virology in Europe’ (BRAVE) has enabled the organisation of two large multidisciplinary conferences, involving experts working in fundamental and applied research on bees – experts on virology, diagnosis, immunology and epidemiology – as well as international trade, policy formulation and disease risk assessment. A call for proposals was published on 3 September this year, on the theme of food agriculture and fisheries biotechnology, on the identification of emerging honey bee pests and diseases, and the re-emergence of pathogens, aimed at elucidating the intimate mechanisms and reasons for the increased honey bee mortality. So it is exactly linked to this topic and many of your questions.
The environmental aspects, including chronic exposure to pesticides, will also be taken into account. The integrated project ALARM, on assessing large-scale environmental risks for biodiversity, is also funded under the Sixth Framework Programme and includes a module on pollinator loss. ALARM will develop and test methods and protocols for the assessment of large-scale environmental risks in order to minimise negative direct and indirect human impacts. Research will focus on assessment and focus of changes in biodiversity structure, function, dynamism of ecosystems – in particular risk arising from climate change, environmental chemicals, biological invasions and pollinator loss in the context of current and future European land-use betterance will also be assessed. These are all current initiatives.
One thing which I would like to underline – since this was also stressed by your colleague – is that Europe is not short of expertise. I think we have to be aware of this and also be fair. At European Union level, we deal with 5% – I repeat, 5% – of European Union public money which is devoted to research. So it is of the utmost important that we join forces and do as much as possible practically. The creation of the European research area, which I fully support, is actually exactly this idea – that we all know what we are doing and that we join the scientific expertise which we already have across Europe. This is certainly a missing element in Europe today.
I will ensure that the Commissioner responsible for research hears your calls for further research – that is me, but today I am in a different role. One thing which I would also like to mention – because it was perhaps not fully understood in my introduction – is the EFSA full assessment on bee mortality and bee surveillance in Europe. This was published on 11 August 2008, so it is a new thing. It is exactly the analysis of the programme which you are searching for and I think it is important that we all look at what we have before us.
I must also answer the colleague who asked about GMO crops. The only GMO crop currently cultivated in the European Union is Bt-maize MON 810. Bt-maize, and Bt-toxin in general, have been extensively analysed with regard to the possible impact on bee health. Forced feeding trials, where healthy bees are exposed to high doses of bt-toxin, have not shown any negative effect. Overall, the overwhelming majority of studies show that this bt-maize pollen diet has no impact on bees. I can add to this that the recently observed massive losses of bees, termed ‘colony collapse disorder’ (CCV), in North America and also in Europe do not appear to be related to the use of GMO crops as they are also reported from other areas where no GMO crops are grown. For example, bee losses observed in southern Germany have been clearly attributed to poisoning by the pesticide Poncho Pro. It also has a Latin name, which is so difficult that I would rather not read it out.
In conclusion, Commission actions will certainly continue and be strengthened. They will help beekeepers to face the current difficulties and encourage them to continue their activity. I also hope that will encourage new entrants to the profession since this activity plays an extremely important role, not only for our EU biodiversity, but also economically.
As regards my colleague Commissioner Fischer Boel’s direct responsibilities, she will continue to make sure that the national beekeeping programmes are used in the most efficient way. However, in the first instance, it is up to the Member States to spend their budgets in an appropriate way. Today we have EUR 26.3 million in European money each year. This is doubled by adding the money from the Member States – but we are not spending it. We are spending 80% of that money. Member States are not spending what is currently at their disposal."@en1
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