Jessika Roswall, Commissioner for the Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, received the EBA leadership today via video conference.
We presented the Commissioner with the importance of bees for the environment, especially that bees are an indispensable part of the environment, that they perform a pollination service, care for biodiversity and provide a third of the world’s food through pollination.
We presented a clear request that bees be considered as part of European environmental policy, not just as part of agriculture.
We proposed that financial resources be provided for indigenous honey plants for all European countries within the framework of environmental policy. We presented beekeepers’ demands for urgent support for beekeeping, because we made it clear that, unfortunately, bees cannot survive without the help of beekeepers. We also highlighted the problem of the Asian hornet.
The EU Commissioner was delighted to meet us and stressed that she is very aware of the importance of bees and pollinators and is very supportive of us. She agrees that bees are a very important part of the environment. She will advocate for a clean and healthy environment that will help preserve bees and pollinators. We agreed that at the professional level, the Cabinet of the EU Commissioner for the Environment, the Cabinet of the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and the European Beekeeping Association will connect and define concrete measures. The Commissioner stressed that working together is key, that there will be many discussions on the importance of pollinators and that only through cooperation can we succeed. She particularly highlighted the fight against counterfeit honey, mainly for the sake of consumer protection and the preservation of beekeeping.
We asked the EU Commissioner if she could make a public statement on 20 May, World Bee Day, on her view of the importance of bees and pollinators.
