72 Amendments of Maria NOICHL related to 2017/2115(INI)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the beekeeping sector is an integral part of European agriculture, providing over 500 000 EU citizens with their main income or additional earnings; whereas beekeeping is practiced also as a hobby or for production of honey for own consumption;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the sector develops and maintains additional activities such as production of materials for example wooden frames, beehives and others, as well as technique, which can also contribute to the development of the local and regional economies;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas the apitourism generates greater interest and opportunities among consumers in recent years, which can be further popularised to more stakeholders;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas pollination is the primary purpose of the bees, while production of honey, honey wax and other products is a secondary product from the activities of the bees; whereas the agriculture in the EU can be characterised as monocultural or with a limited plant variety;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
Ad. whereas good theoretical knowledge combined with a practical training is a prerequisite for better understanding and dealing with the challenges ahead of the bee families;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the beekeeping sector is hugely significant (around EUR 14.2 annually), as 84 % of plant species and 76 % of food production are dependent on pollination by bees, which also helps maintain the ecological balance and biological diversity in Europe; recalling also the importance of pollination for food security in Europe and in the world;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas on 26 February 2016 in Kuala-Lumpur a report was published by the experts of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) which sounded the alarm on the decline in pollinators, of which the European domestic honey bee (apis mellifera) is the most widespread pollinator in the world;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bc. whereas the scientific community has noted increases in bee mortality for the past fifteen years, with this phenomenon affecting – according to the IPBES – 37% of wild and domestic bees in Europe; their extinction is having a dramatic impact on the environment (biodiversity) and also on our domestic agricultural production: the demise of the bee would, according to the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, cost EUR 150 billion worldwide, or 10% of the market value of agricultural products intended for human consumption, which attests to the need to protect pollinating insects;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas the urban beekeeping gathers popularity in recent years, which shows sustainability, interest and has the potential of increasing awareness among a broader circle of citizens, including children, about the nature and benefits from beekeeping;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas in 2004 the Commission guaranteed EUR 32 million to national beekeeping programmes for the sole benefit of beekeeping, and whereas this had been increased to 36 million by 2006 (representing 3 thousandths of the CAP budget); whereas for the period 2017-2019 EUR 108 million are foreseen for support of the national programmes for the apiculture sector from the EU budget;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas there is a need for beekeepers to operate in harmony with the services which they carry out and to do so responsibly and professionally and in conjunction and cooperation with farmers;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas some invasive alien species such as Varroa destructor, the small hive beetle, the Asian hornet and American foulbrood are causing widespread destruction in the European bee population and causing serious harm to beekeepersthe decline in the European bee population, the adverse effects of which extend far beyond the beekeeping sector, is mainly due, according to the scientific community, to changes in land use, intensive farming practices and the large-scale use of pesticides, invasive species (e.g. Asian hornet and American foulbrood), the proliferation of parasites including the Varroa destructor, genetic problems, the degeneration of habitats and the disappearance of many species of flowering plant;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas bees, as pollinators, play an important role in our food and agriculture systems and are excellent indicators of the quality of our environment that should sensitise us to agricultural practices which are more natural-resource friendly and which draw directly on the concept of agro-ecology, combining good economic performance and environmental performance to produce more and better;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas farmbeekeepers receive support for protective measures against Varroa destructor, which there has so far been no success in eradicating as there are no effective remedies as yet and R&D efforts are very inadequate; and eradication has long been proven to be an impossible goal instead Varroa control is being practiced with adequate success, which could be improved; whereas working methods of Varroa destructor control becomes more and more time and knowledge demanding, as the invention of 100% effective synthetic drug against this mite is very unlikely due to chemical similarity of host and parasite bodies and existing methods lose their effectiveness;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas beekeepers, agricultural producers and environmentalists also expect there to be a clear scientific consensus on all substances and other factors which are a danger to bees’ health; and citizens expect the EU to act on the existing scientific consensus on the role of certain chemicals that are dangerous to the health of bees, such as neonicotinoid insecticides as well as other factors mentioned above; whereas a debate about which factor is the most significant is irrelevant, since the factors can act individually and synergistically in combination and progress needs to be made to improve the situation for all factors simultaneously; whereas beekeepers and citizens expect the EU to formally adopt the guidance for assessing the impact of plant protection products on bees, which are the only ones able to determine the acceptability of the risk required by Regulation 1107/2009;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas beekeepers, agricultural producers and environmentalists also expect there to be a clear scientific consensus on all substances and other factors which are a danger to bees’ health; but whereas researchers and EFSA have already identified the dangers posed to bees by some neonicotinoids whose use, after being suspended, might be definitively banned following their re- evaluation;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas beekeepers always produce less honey once the winter is over, because of autumn and winter losses which can be as much as 50% in some Member States; whereas in some regions the mortality rate of the winter has surpassed 50%, reaching to 100% in some cases with various reasons behind this;
Amendment 122 #
O. whereas the EU imports 25% of the honey it uses (60% of its annual imports) each year from these countries, which is why Europe’s beekeepers are in dire straits; whereas the EU imports highest quantities of honey from People's republic of China, Ukraine, Argentina and Mexico;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas consumers are aware that no more than one third of the honey they use is produced in the EU; often think they are eating honey from the EU, whereas a proportion of that honey comes from third countries and is sometimes mixed with EU honey, while some of the imported honey is adulterated;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas consumersa big part of the consumers in the EU are unaware that no more than one third of the honey they use is produced in the EU;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q
Recital Q
Q. whereas since 2001 the amount of honey in the world’s major honey- producing regions has stagnated or decreased as a result of the poor health of bees, whilst the amount of honey in China hasand disappearance of bees, whilst honey production in China is said to have increased by over 80 % (200 000 tonnes);
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital R
Recital R
R. whereas approximately 100 000 tonnes of imported honey arrives in the EU from China everyduring the last few years – double the amount in 2002 – even though the number of bee colonies has declined in other parts of the world;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital S a (new)
Recital S a (new)
Sa. whereas not all member states have laboratories, which can conduct full honey analyses, which causes a challenge for the sector in trying to use the opportunities for marketing the products on the single European market;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Z
Recital Z
Z. whereas many honey packagers and traders now abuse this way of indicating origin in order to conceal the real country of origin, as well as the proportion of honey from the different countries, as purchasers are becoming more knowledgeable and are distrustful of foodstuffs from certain countries;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AC
Recital AC
AC. whereas annual honey consumption varies hugely across the Member States: whilst Member States in Western Europe have an average consumption of 2.5-2.7 kg per person, the figure for Hungary, for example, is just 0.7 kgthe countries from the 2004, 2007 and 2013 enlargements are as low as 0.7 kg in some cases;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AC a (new)
Recital AC a (new)
ACa. whereas the European quality schemes and particularly the GI schemes have a great importance for the preservation and creation of jobs; whereas more than 30 GIs for honey have been registered so far; whereas "European" and "made in Europe" is often associated with products with high value;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AF
Recital AF
AF. whereas other beekeeping products such as pollen, propolis, beeswax and royal jelly also contribute significantly to people’s wellbeing and play an important role in the healthcare and cosmetics industries and they are looked for from the consumers as a part of a more natural way of life;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AF a (new)
Recital AF a (new)
AFa. whereas timely and precise data collection is important for faster and more accurate planning; whereas the new technologies and digitalisation can have a crucial role in cutting costs and times; whereas some technologies can have hidden effects on the bees via the use of electromagnetic waves among others;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital AF a (new)
Recital AF a (new)
AFa. whereas only a complete cultivation ban on GMOs will protect all bees from GM pollen and protect European consumers from honey contaminated by GM pollen;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Understandlines that bees perform a basic agricultural service by pollinating crops, without which European agriculture and in particular plant cultivation would not exist in any form;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Understands that beekeeping makes a fundamental contribution to maintaining the ecological balance and biological diversity, so that the sector must be at the heart of the common agricultural policy and of an agricultural policy reoriented towards sustainable development enabling improved biodiversity, which is indispensable to bees’ survival and repopulation;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Understandlines that beekeeping makes a fundamental contribution to maintaining the ecological balance and biological diversity, so that the sector must be at the heart of the common agricultural policy;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Understandlines that financing of beekeeping must be considerably increased in future agricultural policy;
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Considers investment in technical and scientific know-how essential in the beekeeping sector, which suffers badly, in spite of its potential, from a lack of specialists, information and knowledge; investment in research must be geared towards genetic and veterinary aspects (vaccines...), given beekeepers’ very inadequate knowledge of these areas.
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Proposes a 47.8 Calls on each of the Member States, as set out in Article 55 of Regulation 1308 on the Single CMO, to develop a national programme for its beekeeping sector; proposes a 50% increase inover the 2004 EU budget for national beekeeping programmes – in line with the actualorder to maintain and increase in the bee population – as compared with the 2004 level, which translates as EUR 47 million annually;s and support the production and marketing of beekeeping products.
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Recalls that, in addition to national beekeeping plans, the CAP currently has a vast array of tools which can be brought to bear in support of the beekeeping sector. These include, in particular, crop diversification measures, ecological focus areas (EFAs), organic farming measures and measures to support other forms of sustainable agriculture, agro-environmental and climatic measures, measures targeting disadvantaged regions, measures in the Natura 2000 and Habitats Directive, product quality measures and those concerned with the diversification of activities on farms, investment measures to restore ecosystems, forestry measures, installation measures, the European Innovation Partnership...
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Considers that the collective management of ecological focus areas with their biodiversity might be extremely useful in terms of food for bees and of their habitat; this communal management may in fact contribute to the establishment of ecological corridors (land left fallow for flowers, tree plantations...) which, by ensuring the presence of bees, allows for increased yields of crops planted alongside the EFAs through improved pollination.
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to include a new direct ecosystemic support scheme for beekeepers based on colony numbers in its proposals for the common agricultural policy post-2020;
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Considers it necessary to develop the potential of beekeeping by further professionalising the sector, in which the vast majority of participants are amateurs (less than 5% in Europe are specialists); considers that developing beekeeping in order to produce hive products and/or swarms for repopulation provides opportunities for jobs and income for farms looking to diversify or for young people aiming to set up as beekeepers, without the need for huge investments at the time of their establishment.
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Sees a need for the European Union and the Member States to implement a large-scale strategy of bee repopulation in a coordinated fashion because of the threat of extinction.
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Urges the European Commission and the member states to launch a network of institutes and other scientific and academic establishments, which deal with bees, their lives and products of activities for faster, smoother and more effective exchange of information on bee- related topics;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. calls on the beekeepers for an active dialogue with the competent authorities for a more effective application of the national programmes for the apiculture programmes with the aim of improving them and correcting any occurring problems;
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Reaffirms its support for the pilot project launched by Parliament aimed at restructuring the beekeeping sector and at the breeding and selection programme for research into Varroa resistance, which should be implemented soon.
Amendment 288 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3 a (new)
Subheading 3 a (new)
underlines that bee health is based on a substantial diversity of pollen and a wide variety of nourishment of the surroundings of bees; points out that monocultural farming does not provide this necessity and therefore stands for a loss of food habitats for bees;
Amendment 292 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Uunderstands that some invasive alien species such as the Varroa destructor, the small hive beetle (Aethina tumida), the Asian hornet and American foulbrood are causing serious harm to beekeepers and widespread destruction among bees; underlines the state of environmental degradation of bees, linked in particular to the presence of dangerous chemicals to pollinators; calls on the EU to draw conclusions from the scientific consensus now established on the role of neonicotinoids in bee health and to formally adopt the guidance for assessing the impact of plant protection products on bees, which alone can determine the acceptability of the risk required by Regulation 1107/2009';
Amendment 311 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission to involve all relevant drug producers in research into bee drugs and to set up a common IT platform to share best solutions and drugs with interested parties;boost research possibilities aimed at solving the problem of parasites and bee diseases and to supplement these with a common IT platform to share best practices and make people aware of the available solutions.
Amendment 326 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Member States and the regions to use all means possible to protect local and regional bee varieties from the undesirable spread of naturalised or invasive alien varieties in the EUpromote breeding strategies to increase the frequencies of valuable traits in local honeybee populations, considering the variable need of both common and endangered subspecies and local beekeeping practices;
Amendment 331 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Member States and the regions to use all means possible to protect all local and regional bee varietiesstrains of Apis mellifera bees present in Europe from the undesirable spread of naturalised or invasive alien varietspecies in the EU;
Amendment 333 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Appreciates the extraordinary genetic heritage and the diversity of bee populations, which render them able to adapt to the peculiarities of any ecosystem and to the local conditions of any region; emphasises the need to maintain this genetic heritage, whose diversity is important in the fight against invasive species and diseases and which will have a long-term impact on maintaining bee populations.
Amendment 338 #
13b. Recalls the right of the Member States to set up protected areas for each honey-producing strain of the Apis mellifera bee, which is present in Europe, in connection with the UN’s 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity.
Amendment 340 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the European Food Safety Authority to carry outpursue its toxicological research (laboratory analyses and field experiments), according to a clearly- determined schedule and together with the other EU agencies concerned, into all substances and other factors which endanger bee health; likely to endanger bee health and to recommend that they be banned if they are found to be toxic; calls at the same time for alternative products or methods to be found to replace these substances which pose a risk to bees.
Amendment 345 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Emphasises the importance, in agricultural landscapes and in settled areas, of open areas of land that exist of themselves, being neither cultivated nor designated for protection – for example, verges, motorway and railway embankments, roadside banks, public land in towns and villages and the banks of waterways; notes that such areas are very important for honey bees and wild bees and that they must therefore be recognised and safeguarded;
Amendment 356 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Urges the Commission and Member States to prohibit the use of pesticides which are harmful for bees, as for instance neonicotinoids like imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and clothianidin;
Amendment 358 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Calls on the European Food Safety Authority to draw up an international inventory to evaluate the emerging health risks in beekeeping.
Amendment 366 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Amendment 381 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Underlines that the best protection of bees is to preserve abiotic resources, in particular soil and waters;
Amendment 384 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 d (new)
Paragraph 14 d (new)
Amendment 387 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 e (new)
Paragraph 14 e (new)
14e. Urges to protect basic ecosystem services of pollination by relying on current scientific knowledge regarding the damage and susceptibility of honey bees as well as on the precautionary principle; urges that protective measures should be extended to wild pollinators, as these play a crucial role with regard to pollination services;
Amendment 393 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 f (new)
Paragraph 14 f (new)
14f. Urges the Commission to collect analyses on the threat for wild bees in the EU and to develop strategies in order to stop the decimation of wild bees;
Amendment 395 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 g (new)
Paragraph 14 g (new)
14g. Calls for more funding and support in the next Common Agricultural Policy for research into the mode of action of organic acids in order to optimize their application as well as for Varroa sensitive hygiene breeding programmes;
Amendment 396 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Expects the Member States and the Commission to force honey-producers in non-EU countries who use dishonest methods and EU packagers and traders who wilfully mix adulterated, imported honey with high-quality European honey to comply with EU law, or to penalise them;
Amendment 400 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on the Commission to develop effective laboratory analysis procedures (e.g. nuclear magnetic resonance testing, detecting bee-specific peptides and other bee-specific markers) which can be used to detect the increasingly sophisticated adulterations in order to detect instances of honey adulteration;
Amendment 404 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Calls on the Commission to develop an official data base of honeys to categorise their origin using a common method of analysis.
Amendment 405 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Urges the Commission to ensure greater harmonisation by introducing common and binding specifications for honey production so as to facilitate the detection of fraud and guarantee the traceability of honey for consumers.
Amendment 414 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Expects honey always to be identifiable from the moment it leaves the hive and to be classifiable according to its plant origin, irrespective of whether it is a domestic or an imported product;
Amendment 434 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Asks that the ‘blend of EC and non- EC honeys’ descriptor be replaced by an indication of exactly which country or countries the honeys used in the final products come from and that these be listed in the order which corresponds to the proportions used in the final product with percentage numbers for the proportion of honey from every country;
Amendment 436 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Asks that the ‘blend of EC and non- EC honeys’ descriptor on labels be replaced by an indication of exactly which country or countries the honeys used in the final products come from and that these be listed in the order which corresponds to the proportions usede proportion from each of those countries, as a percentage, in the final product;
Amendment 444 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Requests that the Commission amend the Honey Directive 2001/110/EC by means of a directive on apiculture products that circumscribes all such products:honey, propolis, royal jelly, beeswax, pollen pellets, bee bread and bee venom;
Amendment 462 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Calls on the Commission to draw up a report on the amount of honey consumed and consumption patterns in all member states of the EU;
Amendment 478 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Asks the Commission to ensure that the EU declares honey and other bee products to be ‘sensitive products’ in free trade agreement negotiations and that they are excluded from the coverage of these agreements;
Amendment 480 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33 a. calls on the European commission to consider introduction of the brand "Honey from Europe" for honey, which is produced by 100% honey collected in the member states of the European Union;