Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-11-23-Speech-2-630"
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"en.20101123.43.2-630"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, indeed, bees play an important role in pollination and in producing honey and related products. This sector is characterised by a great diversity of beekeeping conditions and by the dispersion and variety of stakeholders from production to the marketing stage.
Some harmonised rules have been established at European Union level concerning honey marketing standards and the preservation of bee health.
The regulation on the single common market organisation provides for a series of measures aimed at improving conditions for producing and marketing apiculture products. These measures can be included in three-year apiculture programmes that are prepared by Member States and cofinanced by the European Union budget. The budget for these programmes has risen from EUR 26 million to EUR 32 million for the 2011-2013 period.
These measures seem to be giving positive results in the beekeeping sector, both for Member States and for beekeepers. It is also important to note that all Member States have devised a programme, which shows their interest both in beekeeping and in the needs of this sector.
The sector is certainly facing a number of challenges. First, the fall in the number of beekeepers, making it crucial to encourage and train newcomers. Second, competition from third-country imports and issues related to the quality of the honey coming from these countries. Then there is the increase in bee mortality due to many different factors, including varroasis and other diseases.
The issue of bee health is particularly worrying within but also outside the European Union. Beekeeping organisations are asking the European Union to concentrate more on bees in this regard. In November 2008, the European Parliament also adopted a resolution on the situation in the beekeeping sector which called on the Commission to put in place specific actions and to make sure these actions were coordinated.
It is obvious that bee health is an important matter and that it must be protected by the most suitable actions, while taking into account the sector’s particularities and the different players involved. In this context, the Commission has already launched a number of initiatives that seek to address the concerns of the beekeeping industry, and other actions are also planned for the future.
The Commission intends to present a communication soon that will seek to clarify the issues in connection with bee health and the key actions that the Commission intends to take in order to address them. This communication will serve as a basis for discussion with the European Parliament and the Council, as well as with authorities in the Member States and stakeholders.
I hope this debate will help identify possible new actions that are necessary at European Union level on the question of preserving beekeeping and the production of honey and related products, but also to help preserve bee health and prevent any problems that could arise because of disease or pollution."@en1
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