COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION - SYNOPSIS REPORT Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS EU Pollinators Initiative
Date: 2018-06-01
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, EU initiative, apiculture, biodiversity, ecosystem, environmental impact, environmental protection, insect, plant health product, sustainable development

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 4.6.2018  SWD(2018) 303 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION - SYNOPSIS REPORT Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS  EU Pollinators Initiative   {COM(2018) 395 final} - {SWD(2018) 302 final}  
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Between  December  2017  and  March  2018,  the  Commission  consulted  widely1  with 
stakeholders including the general public, public authorities dealing with nature conservation 
and agriculture, academia, environmental non-governmental organizations, beekeeping sector, 
farming  and  other  land  management  sectors.  This  report  summarises  the  inputs  received 
following: (i) an open public consultation, which garnered over 66 000 responses; (ii) a two-
day expert workshop; and (iii) the consultation of a number of Commission expert groups 
and committees. The report is structured around the three priority areas of the initiative as set 
out in the roadmap2.  

2.  RESULTS OF THE CONSULTATION ACTIVITIES 

2.1. 

Priority I: Improve knowledge on pollinators 

In the public consultation, nearly all respondents (over 95 %) considered that it was important 
to improve knowledge on pollinators and the causes and consequences of their decline. While 
at  least  two  thirds  of  stakeholders  in  all  groups3  considered  the  decline  of  pollinators 
alarming,  they  considered  it  important  to  address  the  knowledge  gaps  that  may  obscure  the 
magnitude of the problem.  

One of key gaps identified by experts at the workshop was a lack of data on the abundance 
and  population  trends  of  wild  pollinators.  They  emphasised  the  need  for  an  EU-wide 
monitoring  process  to  fill  data  gaps.  Experts  suggested  developing  different  tools  and 
approaches  to  facilitate  the  monitoring  process,  such  as  DNA  barcoding  and  machine 
learning. Another way to achieve this would be to get the public more involved in science. 

Almost all respondents to the public consultation felt it was important to research the threats 
to pollinators and the impacts of their decline on natural ecosystems and human society. At 
the  workshop,  experts  highlighted  the  need  for  further  research  on  the  combined  effects  of 
different  threats,  on  the  resilience  of  pollinator  populations  and  on  the  functional  links 
between  pollinators  and  pollinated  plants.  They  also  underlined  the  need  to  improve  the 
availability of data, in particular on the status of pollinator habitats, agricultural land use and 
management and pesticide use. 

Overall,  the  scientific  community  stressed  the  need  to  strengthen  research  capacities, 
especially in less-researched EU regions. While different funding instruments were identified 
as relevant, the EU framework programme for research and innovation was regarded as key. 

2.2. 

Priority II: Tackle the causes of the decline of pollinators 

A  large  majority  of  public  consultation  respondents  (75 %  in  the  agri-food  sector  and  over 
90 % in other groups) rated intensive agricultural management and pesticide use as the most 
important threats to pollinators. Three quarters of the agri-food sector respondents found these 
to  be  important  drivers  of  the  decline.  For  other  stakeholder  groups,  the  proportion  was 
significantly higher (95 % or more). Other threats like urbanisation, pollution, invasive alien 

1 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/conservation/species/pollinators/index_en.htm 
2 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/initiative/136668/attachment/090166e5b6db6927 
3 The analysis of the public consultation categorises respondents as individuals and in four organisation groups (agri-food, 
apiculture, nature/environment and others). 

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species,  diseases  and  climate  change  were  considered  important  by  at  least  half  of  the 
respondents  in  each  stakeholder  group.  Individuals  placed  higher  importance  on  climate 
change and diseases than other stakeholder groups. 

Public  consultation  respondents  considered  that  the  most  important  actions  to  tackle  the 
decline  of  pollinators  are:  (i)  assessing  the  risks  of  pesticides  to  pollinators;  and  (ii) 
supporting their habitats, particularly in rural areas, both inside and outside Natura 2000 sites. 
However,  a  large  majority  of  respondents  (at  least  half  in  each  stakeholder  group)  also 
considered that it was important to address other threats to pollinators, including getting the 
private sector and local communities involved in actions.  

The  workshop  experts  primarily  focused  on  the  restoration  and  maintenance  of  pollinator 
habitats  in  rural  and  urban  landscapes  and  on  addressing  the  threats  of  pesticides  to 
pollinators.  A  majority  of  experts  identified  the  Habitats  Directive  and  the  EU  common 
agricultural  policy  as  key  instruments  to  protect  and  support  pollinator  habitats.  Experts 
widely  agreed  that  getting  farmers  involved  would  be  pivotal  in  creating  a  favourable 
environment  for  pollinators  in  rural  areas.  They  also  emphasised  the  importance  of  urban 
areas  and  the  potential  of  large  infrastructure  such  as  transport  and  energy  for  providing 
habitats and ensuring that they are connected to the wider landscape. 

To reduce the threat of pesticides, experts stressed the need to improve risk assessment and 
reduce  the  exposure  of  pollinators  to  pesticides.  Experts  also  considered  it  important  to 
include wild pollinator species in the assessment and include explicit measures to reduce the 
impacts  of  pesticides  on  pollinators  under  the  EU  Directive  on  the  Sustainable  Use  of 
Pesticides4. 

2.3. 

Priority III: Raise awareness and improve collaboration and knowledge 
sharing 

Over  90 %  of  the  public  consultation  respondents  emphasised  the  importance  of  raising 
awareness,  getting  the  public  involved  in  solutions  and  facilitating  collaboration  and 
knowledge exchange. Respondents highlighted the need for an EU initiative to support action 
at  national,  regional  and  local  levels.  While  suggestions  on  how  to  make  the  knowledge 
widely available differed, stakeholders broadly agreed on the need for a central open-access 
knowledge platform. 

Experts  broadly  supported  the  involvement  of  the  public  in  science  and  acknowledged  the 
catalytic  role  that  educational  institutions  such  as  schools  and  museums  can  play  in  this. 
While  there  is  a  number  of  existing  platforms  supporting  stakeholder  collaboration,  experts 
thought the collaboration capacity should be further strengthened. 

3.  CONCLUSION 

All  contributions  to  the  consultation  were  taken  into  account,  but  due  to  the  wide  range  of 
views  expressed,  the  final  policy  document  may  not  necessarily  reflect  all  of  them.  The 
initiative  will  address  identified  knowledge  needs  through  actions  that  bring  together  the 
knowledge that already exists in this field, making it widely accessible while acquiring new 
knowledge  to  fill  the  gaps.  The  initiative  will  also  tackle  well-established  threats  to 

4 Directive 2009/128/EC. 

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pollinators,  whether  directly  (intensive  agricultural  management  and  pesticide  use,  invasive 
alien species) or indirectly (climate change, diseases and pollution). The initiative will support 
collaboration  and  action  at  all  levels  in  order  to  enable  a  coordinated  EU  response  to  the 
problem. It will also seek to involve wider society by promoting and supporting action taken 
by the general public and the private sector. 

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