BEE EMERGENCY CALL

The report argues that the European Commission and various Member States are undermining the 2013 bans on four bee-harming pesticides, including neonicotinoids and fipronil, by exploiting a legal loophole for 'emergency authorisations'. Analysis of 62 notifications reveals that these authorisations are frequently granted without evidence of a genuine emergency, without considering alternative pest control methods, and are often driven by the pesticide and seed industry. The document highlights Romania as a primary example of this abuse, noting it granted one-third of all EU derogations for neonicotinoids between 2014 and 2016 despite evidence of bee colony losses and a lack of research into sustainable alternatives. The authors call for the Commission to increase transparency, systematically scrutinise notifications, and reject industry-led requests.

• Between 2013 and November 2016, Member States granted at least 62 emergency authorisations for the use of four pesticides banned in 2013 due to their high toxicity to bees, including fipronil and neonicotinoids.
• The emergency authorisation process is heavily influenced by the pesticide and seed industries; 86% of applications for bee-harming pesticides involved industry participation, and 44% were submitted solely by business entities.
• Member States frequently fail to meet the legal requirements for emergency authorisations: 82% of reviewed notifications provided no economic evidence of a threat, and 79% failed to list any alternative means of pest control.
• There is a widespread failure to conduct research into sustainable alternatives to banned pesticides; 89% of the 62 reviewed notifications provided no information on research to solve the danger.
• The European Commission has largely failed to exercise its oversight powers, with no public evidence that it requested scientific or technical opinions from EFSA regarding emergency authorisations for bee-harming pesticides since 2013.
• Romania is identified as a major abuser of the system, granting 20 emergency authorisations for neonicotinoids between 2014 and 2016, which constitutes one-third of all such derogations in the EU.
• In Romania, the use of neonicotinoids on sunflower and maize crops has been linked to acute bee intoxication and severe colony losses, affecting at least 10% of beekeepers in July-August 2015.
• A 2015 European Commission Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) report on Romania found that coated seeds were produced in non-certified mobile facilities and that no research was undertaken to identify alternative pest control measures.
• The report notes a lack of transparency, as emergency authorisation notifications are not made public by Member States, and the Commission typically publishes information only after the 120-day derogation period has expired.

APA

ClientEarth (2017). BEE EMERGENCY CALL. https://www.clientearth.org/media/5pigvs34/2017-02-15-bee-emergency-call-coll-en.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. BEE EMERGENCY CALL. 2017. https://www.clientearth.org/media/5pigvs34/2017-02-15-bee-emergency-call-coll-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=BEE EMERGENCY CALL |date=February 2017 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/5pigvs34/2017-02-15-bee-emergency-call-coll-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2017bee, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{BEE EMERGENCY CALL}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2017}, month = feb, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/5pigvs34/2017-02-15-bee-emergency-call-coll-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }