Beekeepers gather outside ministries across Europe to demand bee-friendly pesticide standards ahead of #WorldBeeDay

This week beekeepers and environmental groups have gathered outside agriculture ministries across Europe to hand in a petition signed by over 230,000 SumOfUs members, demanding that the European Commission finally makes pesticide testing bee-friendly. These creative and visual events, led by groups and individuals working directly with embattled bees, aim to draw the attention of decision-makers and compel them to listen to citizens all across Europe. The events are taking place in Berlin, Bucharest, Paris, London, Rome, Dublin, and Riga.

The events are happening ahead of World Bee Day, on 20 May. A vote on the pesticide standards was planned to take place on the same day at the European Commission’s Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed in Brussels, but sources revealed that Juncker’s cabinet delayed the vote due to increased public pressure, which these events aim to build on.

Member states could vote to raise pesticide testing standards, to match those used to ban three bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides last year, and detailed in EFSA’s 2013 Bee Guidance document. If they don’t, which campaigners fear is likely, new bee-killing pesticides will simply flood the market, rendering the much-celebrated neonic ban redundant. The campaigners say that to save the bees, the EU needs to outlaw all bee-killing pesticides, not just three.

VIEW THE PETITION HERE

“Citizens and beekeepers were causing a buzz this Thursday (9 May), ahead of World Bee Day, to give a voice to our endangered pollinator friends from Riga to Berlin, and Rome to Bucharest, ” said SumOfUs Campaign Manager Rebecca Falcon. “Europe’s bees are being decimated by toxic pesticides, but our governments have the chance to vote for bee-saving, science-based pesticide standards using the Bee Guidance document.”

“European leaders must listen to the beekeepers taking to the streets and rise to the challenge. They cannot buckle to Bayer’s pesticide industry lobbyists and miss a golden opportunity to save the bees and our food supply.”

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