WRITTEN QUESTION E-3770/98

by Susan Waddington (PSE) to the Commission

(11 December 1998)

Subject: Biodiversity - Honey Bees

Bee breeders in the United Kingdom are increasingly concerned about the importation of bees into the UK from other Member States and countries around the world. They are concerned that a combination of hybridisation and infection from the varroa and Kashmir viruses will lead to the extinction of the indigenous Apis Mellifera Mellifera honey bee population.

Breeders have therefore called for imports to be banned, on the grounds that such action would be justified under the Habitats Directive and the International Convention on Biological Diversity. The UK Government argues, however, that any such ban would contravene existing EC law, namely Directive 92/65/EC(1) concerning the free trade in bees.

Does the Commission agree with the UK Government that Directive 92/65/EC takes precedence in this case and that any ban designed to protect the indigenous sub-species would be illegal? Is the Commission aware of any other similar cases or legal challenges in other Member States?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(19 February 1999)

Health protection of honey bees is covered by Council Directive 92/65/EEC, which lays down animal health requirements for Community trade in and imports of animals. Member States must ensure that trade in bees is not prohibited or restricted on animal health grounds other than those resulting from application of the Directive or other Community legislation and, in particular, from any protective measures taken. That provision relates only to animal health requirements and does not place a general obligation on Member States to ensure that bees can be traded freely within the Community. However, such an obligation derives from Article 30 of the EC Treaty.

Zootechnical protection of bees is not covered by Council Directive 91/174/EEC laying down zootechnical and pedigree requirements for the marketing of pure-bred animals(2), since detailed rules for implementing the Directive have not yet been adopted. National legislation continues to apply in accordance with the Treaty's general provisions.

In the absence of specific Community rules, the sector remains subject solely to Articles 30 and 36 of the EC Treaty. In Case C-67/97 concerning the protection of brown bees from Læsø island in Denmark, the Court of Justice ruled on 3 December 1998 that measures to preserve an indigenous animal population with distinct characteristics contribute to the maintenance of biodiversity by ensuring the survival of the population concerned. By doing so, they are aimed at protecting the life of those animals and can be justified under Article 36 of the EC Treaty. From the point of view of such conservation of biodiversity, it is immaterial whether the object of protection is a separate subspecies, a distinct strain within any given species or merely a local colony, so long as the populations in question have characteristics distinguishing them from others and are therefore judged worthy of protection.

The Community and its Member States are contracting parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)(3), which stipulates that "each Contracting Party shall, as far as possible and as appropriate [...] prevent the introduction of, control or eradicate those alien species which threaten ecosystems, habitats or species". The Community Biodiversity Strategy(4) states: "The presence or introduction of alien species or subspecies can potentially cause imbalances and changes to ecosystems. It can have potentially irreversible impacts, by hybridisation or competition, on native components of biodiversity."

It follows from the judgment mentioned above that national legislation which prohibits keeping and introducing onto an island such as Læsø any bees other than those of the subspecies Apis mellifera mellifera must be regarded as justified, under Article 36 of the EC Treaty, on grounds of animal health protection. The Commission is currently examining whether the principles which the Court of Justice established for islands such as Læsø can be applied to a Member State such as Austria in order to enable it to reserve all or most of its territory for bee-keeping based on a single subspecies of bee, in the light of the requirements deriving from the Convention on Biological Diversity.

(1) OJ L 268, 14.9.1992, p. 54.

(2) OJ L 85, 5.4.1991.

(3) Council Decision 93/626/EEC of 25 October 1993 concerning the conclusion of the Convention on Biological Diversity (OJ L 309, 13.12.1993).

(4) COM(98) 42.