WRITTEN QUESTION E-1415/99 by Olivier Duhamel (PSE) to the Commission. Caulerpa taxifolia.
Date: 1999-09-01
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU programme, Mediterranean Sea, algae, applied research, ecology, marine ecosystem, research project, scientific research

C 170 E/8

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.6.2000

(2000/C 170 E/008)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1415/99

by Olivier Duhamel (PSE) to the Commission

(1 September 1999)

Subject: Caulerpa taxifolia

tropical mutant algae, Caulerpa taxifolia, has been spreading in the
For several years a species of
Italy, Spain, Greece and Croatia in
Mediterranean. This environmental disaster is affecting France,
particular. Between 1992 and 1995 the Commission used the LIFE financial
instrument to fund an
international project to study the problem of this killer algae(cid:146)s spread and to predict future developments.
A second tranche of funding was granted in 1995 for a follow-up programme, to be coordinated by a
French scientific interest grouping based in Marseilles. In 1997 an international colloquy on controlling the
spread of Caulerpa was organised.

Does the Commission have any actual results from the projects it has supported?

Does the Commission acknowledge that this is a problem that should be dealt with at European level by
stepping up research and increasing the funds available for the destruction of these algae?

Given that the structural measures remain the responsibility of the Member States concerned, can the
Commission not encourage the Member States more strongly to take action against this environmental
threat and promote any initiative by the public authorities seeking to explore existing methods of
eradication?

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(8 October 1999)

funded between 1992 and 1995 were determine,

The aims of the LIFE project
the true
distribution of caulerpa taxifolia, to monitor its evolution, and to predict its future evolution. In addition
the project should help to establish the scientific and technical bases needed for its eradication. This trans-
national project was complemented with Spanish and Italian partners (universities,
local authorities,
scientific centres).

in detail,

It enabled it to be established that the spread of caulerpa taxifolia was proceeding at a rapid rate. A precise
balance sheet was drawn up of the locations and areas occupied. That expansion is a threat to marine
biodiversity, species diversity (and in particular certain species of algae) and biotype diversity (and in
particular Posidonia beds). The toxic metabolites produced by the caulerpa taxifolia play a major direct or
indirect role in the competition with the indigenous species. It is not possible to eradicate caulerpa taxifolia
when the areas occupied are very large (several tens or hundreds of hectares).

The project funded between 1996 and 1999 was intended to demonstrate a strategy for controlling the
spread by quickly detecting new sites and fostering public awareness,
for experimenting with new
eradication techniques, improving the knowledge of the possible consequences of the algae(cid:146)s expansion
and heightening the awareness of the countries to the south of the Mediterranean that were likely to be
affected in the long term by the expansion of caulerpa taxifolia.

The results of this second project are being evaluated by the Commission. This has already resulted in two
symposia (cid:129) in 1997 and 1999 (cid:129) together with several initiatives by the local and national authorities
concerned. In addition a proposal intended to apply the recommendations made by experts in Heraklion
in March 1998 resulting from, among others, the LIFE project was recently put to the contracting parties
to the Barcelona Convention on the protection of the marine environment and of the Mediterranean
coastal region. The Commission supports that proposal.

One may thus conclude that it has been possible to use the LIFE projects to increase the awareness of all of
the operators involved (scientists, public authorities, users of coastal areas, the public in general). Subject to
new factors arising from the evaluation in progress it is now the responsibility of the Member States to
provide suitable follow-up to this work by taking account of the Mediterranean scope of the matter.