Slovenia Welcomes EU Agriculture Commissioner on Initial Day of Visit
In a significant move towards safeguarding the health of Europe's bees and promoting local food, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, [Boštjan Noč](https://www.europeanbeekeepingassociation.com/about-us/boštjan-noč/), has expressed support for various initiatives during his visit to Slovenia.
The Commissioner has shown particular interest in the transfer of good practices from Slovenia, where excellent cooperation between beekeepers and farmers since 2011 has resulted in no mass bee deaths. This support is a step towards reducing bee deaths across Europe.
One of the Commissioner's key goals is to unify the promotion of EU quality schemes, and he agrees with the initiative for a unified European promotional campaign: "Europeans buy locally, origin Europe." The Commissioner also emphasizes the importance of promoting local food, including educating consumers about its advantages.
In an effort to streamline the registration of new, more effective bee disease medicines and Feed and Food Safety substances (often abbreviated as FFS), the Commissioner has advocated for a single registration in Europe. He believes that the current European registration process, which can take up to 8 years, is unacceptable, especially when compared to the USA's maximum 1-year timeline.
To address this issue, the Commissioner supports the development and registration of new biological bee disease remedies. He also emphasizes the need for simplifying the registration process, which could be facilitated through ongoing frameworks for authorizing plant protection products and biocidal products that affect pollinators.
The Commissioner also supports the free movement of Varroa control agents throughout Europe to achieve similar prices. This initiative aims to ensure that beekeepers across Europe can access effective tools to combat Varroa destructor, a parasitic mite that threatens honeybee colonies.
During his visit, the Commissioner will be presented with key beekeeping topics by the President of the European Beekeeping Association. The Commissioner did not express any disagreement with the points raised during the meeting.
The EU's current initiatives to simplify the registration of new, more effective bee medicines and promote local food education are embedded in broader EU programs and policy frameworks. However, no single comprehensive source explicitly outlines all measures in one place. Relevant EU actions are advancing through frameworks like plant protection product authorizations, the EU Pollinators Initiative, and innovation funding programs such as Horizon Europe.
For detailed regulatory updates on bee medicine authorization or specific educational initiatives, consulting the European Commission’s Environment and Health portals or the EU’s Horizon Europe project database might yield additional precise information.
[1] European Commission. (2021). EU Pollinators Initiative. Retrieved from
- The Commissioner, recognizing the benefits of science-based solutions, has advocated for the development and registration of new biological bee disease remedies, which align with the health-and-wellness sector and nutrition, as they contribute to the overall well-being of bees and support local food production.
- In line with the EU's initiatives to promote local food and education, the Commissioner supports simplifying the registration process for new, more effective bee medicines, which could be achieved through ongoing frameworks such as plant protection product authorizations, thus integrating science and health-and-wellness to ensure a high-quality, sustainable food supply.
