Commission Implementing Decision

of 4 July 2012

concerning a financial contribution by the Union to certain Member States to support voluntary surveillance studies on honeybee colony losses

(notified under document C(2012) 4396)

(Only the Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Spanish and Swedish texts are authentic)

(2012/362/EU)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Decision 2009/470/EC of 25 May 2009 on expenditure in the veterinary field1, and in particular Article 23 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)
The Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on honeybee health2 gives an overview of the Commission’s actions already undertaken and ongoing as regards honeybee health in the EU. The main subject issue of the Communication is the increased mortality of bees observed worldwide.
(2)

In 2009 the EFSA project ‘Bee mortality and bee surveillance in Europe’ concluded that the surveillance systems in the EU are, in general, weak and that there is a lack of data at Member States level and a lack of comparable data at EU level.

(3)

In order to improve the availability of data on bee mortality it is appropriate to assist and support certain surveillance studies in Member States on honeybee losses.

(4)
Commission Implementing Decision 2011/881/EU of 21 December 2011 concerning the adoption of a financing decision to support voluntary surveillance studies on honeybee colony losses3 set aside EUR 3 750 000 as contribution of the European Union for the implementation of the surveillance studies on honeybee colony losses.
(5)

The EU reference laboratory (EURL) for bee health presented the document ‘Basis for a pilot surveillance project on honey bee colony losses’ (available at http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/liveanimals/bees/bee_health_en.htm) providing guidance to Member States to elaborate their surveillance studies.

(6)

Member States were invited to send to the Commission their programmes for surveillance studies based on the technical document of the EURL for bee health. Twenty Member States have sent their proposals for the surveillance studies. These proposals have been technically and financially evaluated to assess their conformity with the technical document ‘Basis for a pilot surveillance project on honey bee colony losses’.

(7)

Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom have drawn up surveillance study programmes on honeybee colony losses in line with the technical document ‘Basis for a pilot surveillance project on honey bee colony losses’ and have requested EU financial support.

(8)

A financial contribution should be granted as from 1 April 2012 to the voluntary surveillance study programmes on honeybee colony losses implemented by Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

(9)
Under Council Regulation (EC) No 1290/2005 of 21 June 2005 on the financing of the common agricultural policy4, veterinary measures are to be financed under the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund. For financial control purposes, Articles 9, 36 and 37 of that Regulation are to apply.
(10)

The payment of the financial contribution should be subject to the condition that the surveillance study programmes planned have actually been carried out and that the authorities supply all the necessary information to the Commission and to the EU reference laboratory for bee health.

(11)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: