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A verdict against the Bayer Group and against the death of bees
Photo: Jörg Halisch / imago images
The legal dispute between the chemical company Bayer and the EU lasted for eight years.
Today, Thursday, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) confirmed the partial ban on certain insecticides to protect bees.
The court dismissed the appeal of the Bayer group on Thursday, which wanted to overturn the decision of another EU court.
The European Court of Justice, based in Luxembourg, imposed restrictions on the use of three insecticides in 2018.
These are the neonicotinoids Imidacloprid from Bayer CropScience, Clothianidin from Takeda Chemical and Bayer CropScience and Thiamethoxam from Syngenta.
The bee poison in the field
Neonicotinoid insecticides (NNI) are widely used as seed dressings.
As it grows, the poison spreads into pollen and nectar.
There are many studies that show negative effects on bees.
For example, Swiss researchers reported in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B that certain neonicotinoids reduce the fertility of male honey bees and reduce their lifespan.
Another study found that bees do not avoid plants treated with the insecticides, but prefer to head for them.
Based on scientific studies, the European Commission adopted a moratorium in 2013 that severely restricts the use of the three NNIs in the EU that are considered to be particularly dangerous.
Criticism comes mainly from the industry, which has also initiated a number of counter-studies and does not see the bees at risk from their products. "Bayer is disappointed that the essential aspects of this case were not recognized by the court," said a spokesman for the Leverkusen pharmaceutical and chemical company. "The ruling sounds like a free ticket for the European Commission to review and question existing permits on the basis of the slightest hint."
Environmental associations such as Greenpeace and the Federation for Environmental Protection and Nature Conservation (BUND) welcomed the Luxembourg judgment: "Neonicotinoids are an enormous threat to bees and other insects and are jointly responsible for the dramatic death of insects," declared the environmental association BUND.
"The protection of biodiversity is absolutely incompatible with the lifting of the ban on highly effective neurotoxins for bees and wild bees."
sug / reuters
