European Parliament resolution on the Commission report on the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1221/97 laying down general rules for the application of measures to improve the production and marketing of honey (COM(2001) 70 — C5-0398/2001 — 2001/2156(COS))
Date: 2001-12-13
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: apiculture, common agricultural policy, economic consequence, economic support, environmental impact, honey, insecticide, marketing

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29. Production and marketing of honey

A5-0381/2001

European Parliament resolution on the Commission report on the implementation of Council
Regulation (EC) No 1221/97 laying down general rules for the application of measures to improve
the production and marketing of honey (COM(2001) 70 + C5-0398/2001 + 2001/2156(COS))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission report (COM(2001) 70 (cid:1) C5-0398/2001),

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:1) having regard to the report of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (A5-0381/

2001),

A. having regard to the noteworthy and essential contribution which bees make to the environment and
farming through pollination, and, hence, to the multifunctional role of bee-keeping in the agricultural
economy, rural development and environmental equilibrium,

B. whereas the situation of bee-keepers has seriously deteriorated over the past year, and whereas this is

not yet reflected in the statistics provided in the Commission’s report,

C. whereas the European Union’s degree of self-sufficiency in honey has been in steady decline for several

years now (47,4 % in 1999),

D. having regard to the urgent cries for help sent out by the European bee-keeping sector, which is
increasingly facing structural problems that are forcing an alarming number of bee-keepers out of
business and jeopardising the establishment and improvement of apiaries, which are of essential
importance both in social and environmental terms, given that they enable wild and cultivated plants
throughout the Union to be pollinated,

E. whereas the Commission does not appear to be aware of the implications of the real threat this poses

to the balance of the European ecosystem,

F. whereas the fact that production costs for European bee-keepers are higher than those of their com-
petitors in non-member countries and there is no Community preference in the sector is steadily
undermining the economic viability of apiaries; whereas the EU cannot cope with the keener com-
petition from cheap imported honeys without casting doubt on its agricultural and social model,

G. whereas extremely serious damage has been caused to bee populations in several Member States by
systemic insecticides with extremely long residual activity periods used in arable seed coatings, which
have led to the mass poisoning of colonies,

H. whereas it has been established that the continued use of these arable crop treatment products con-
taminates plants and the soil and causes behavioural alterations in bees and the loss of up to 60 % of
bee populations and the same percentage of honey production,

I. whereas varroasis is considered by the World Organisation for Animal Health to be a transmissible
disease ‘of socio-economic and/or public health importance’ that is ‘significant in the international
trade of animals and animal products’,

J. whereas honey is a quality agricultural product and one of the few products listed in Annex I to the
Treaty not to be covered by a complete regulatory framework and direct support under the CAP,

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K. whereas honey and the other apiculture products, namely royal jelly, pollen and propolis are high-
quality agricultural products of great value to human beings both in nutritional terms and as a means
of guarding against illness,

L. whereas the national programmes implemented under Regulation (EC) No 1221/97 in order to
improve the conditions under which honey is produced and marketed are to date still the only (indi-
rect) support measures applying to the sector,

M. whereas an analysis of these national programmes to improve the conditions under which honey is
produced and marketed shows that Regulation (EC) No 1221/97 is interpreted in a far from uniform
way by the various Member States; whereas, at the same time, the appropriations are underused by
some Member States and used to replace national funding already granted with Community funding,

1.
Notes that the programmes cofinanced by the EU under Regulation (EC) No 1221/97 have qualitative
and quantitative shortcomings and have proved incapable of preventing the deterioration of the situation
facing European bee-keepers as markets open up and become more global;

2.
Expresses concern at the fact that the production and marketing of honey in the Union are hampered
by long-standing structural deficiencies, while the pollination of plants by bees, which must continue in all
areas in order to obviate any adverse effects on the environment and rural development, is under threat;
maintains that urgent action should be taken to enable the sector to cope financially with the genuine
crisis which it is currently experiencing, involving for example a more flexible interpretation of Regulation
(EC) No 1221/97, which would allow programmes which meet the need to ensure the sector’s survival to
be cofinanced;

3.
Condemns the US trade authorities’ imposition of anti-dumping duties on imports of honey from
Argentina and China (cid:1) the EU’s main suppliers (cid:1) which is resulting in greater pressure from such pro-
ducts on the Community market, leading to falling prices and lower income levels for European bee-
keepers;

Deplores the fact that the Commission sees no need to alter Council Regulation (EC) No 1221/97 or
4.
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2300/97 and that
forward in report
COM(2001) 70, subsequently implemented under Regulation (EC) No 704/2001, is to simplify the manage-
ment of the existing budgetary framework;

the only proposal put

Calls for honey to be incorporated into veterinary policy, particularly as regards the appropriations

5.
allocated to combating varroasis;

Considers that honey ought to be covered by Community-funded specific promotion and marketing
6.
support measures in view of the nutritional value of apiculture products and the official statements advoca-
ting a food policy laying the emphasis on quality;

Insists that the marketing and quality standards applicable to all types of honey marketed in the EU
7.
should provide for proper consumer information as regards blended and non-Community honeys,
whereby, for example, the labelling would have to state the country of origin and bear specific quality
indications;

8.
Believes that, in anticipation of the forthcoming mid-term review of Agenda 2000, the Commission
must study and propose new ways to promote the production and marketing of honey to enable European
apiaries to survive and make a profit, thus helping to place Community support on a more comprehensive,
effective, and fairer footing;

9.
Calls in particular on the Commission, when it carries out the mid-term review of Agenda 2000, to
submit a financial and economic impact study, together with legislative proposals if necessary, on the
implementation of the following measures: funding to help control varroasis and other bee diseases as
part of veterinary policy, so as to offset the significant implications of ad hoc health costs; a per-hive

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pollination premium for all European bee-keepers to maintain the bee population at a sufficient level for
bees to perform their environmental function; and an annual premium, to be paid through the producer
organisations, to compensate for income losses, which would be calculated by multiplying the average
honey production per hive in the European Union by the difference between average production prices
and export prices;

10.
Calls, pending the introduction of these measures, for aid for all action aimed at rebuilding bee
populations (cid:1) such as the purchase of queen bees, the purchase of queen bee rearing equipment, support
for training apiaries and the specialisation of some apiaries in the rearing of bees (cid:1) to be declared eligible
under the current regulation;

11.
Believes, bearing in mind its role in the EU’s less favoured rural areas, that bee-keeping needs to be
encompassed within the system of compensatory allowances per hectare provided for in Regulation (EC)
No 1259/1999, to be achieved by converting hives into large animal units (LUs);

12.
Calls for the scope of the existing regulatory framework to be widened to include specific (internal
and external) promotion measures for high-grade honey and measures to improve the joint marketing of
honey;

13.
Considers that the budget resources allocated to bee-keeping under Regulation (EC) No 1221/97 fall
short of what is required and, pending the forthcoming review and the new financial perspective to be
drawn up, believes that the overall budget must gradually be increased both to finance new measures and
to raise the percentage of Community funding and enable measures to be implemented more consistently
and fairly;

14.
Calls on the Commission to ensure compliance with the principle of additionality of Community
funds for bee-keeping and that Member States do not use Community support to replace the national
funding already granted by their official bodies to aid the sector;

15.
Calls for more broadly defined criteria to be used to determine which expenditure and investment
are eligible for aid under the national programmes, on the understanding that the Commission must
ensure that all the Member States show the same degree of flexibility in their interpretations so as to
enable the production and marketing of honey to proceed without distortions;

16.
Considers it essential to improve and standardise national statistical tools, with a view to quoting
producer prices, calculating production costs and supplying real-world data on population trends, which
take account of the rebuilding of populations between January and December each year by setting up
national monitoring centres in which producer organisations should be called upon to play a role;

17.
Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that procedures for the approval of plant
protection products take account of the effects on bees (death or behavioural alterations), and that the
precautionary principle is applied in this area;

18.
Looks to the Member States to make the proper authorities work together more actively with
representative organisations and cooperatives in the bee-keeping sector for the purposes of drawing up
and administering the national programmes in order to enhance their effectiveness and provide transpar-
ency;

Calls on the Council to reconsider Commission report COM(2001) 70 as a matter of urgency, in the

19.
light of the information set out in this resolution;

20.
Calls on the Commission to launch a large-scale awareness-raising and information campaign aimed
at the Member States and bee-keeper organisations, with a view to ensuring that better use is made of the
opportunities afforded both by Regulation (EC) No 1221/97 and by the appropriations available under
rural development programmes;

21.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.