Maximize EU pollinator protection: Minimize risk

Bees and other pollinators play vital roles in biodiversity and food security, and they are a source of income and inspiration. Yet, bees’ biodiversity and abundance are decreasing every day. Their decline, driven by pesticides (1–3), poses serious threats to the environment, ecosystems, and human health. The European pesticide authorization framework states that a pesticide can only be put on the market if it has no harmful effects on human health or animal health and no unacceptable effects on the environment (4). EU ministries met in June to decide what constitutes an “acceptable” effect of a pesticide on bees (5). Despite scientific evidence indicating that the current level of protection is barely adequate, they tentatively agreed to provide even less protection moving forward (5). We call on EU governments to apply the maximum level of protection of pollinators from pesticides (6).