Serious crisis in the Spanish and European beekeeping market

Subject: Serious crisis in the Spanish and European beekeeping market

In Spain, production of honey and other apiculture products has fallen by around 50% this year, not only because of the severe drought, but also because of plant health problems and attacks by invasive species. Despite the decrease in production, sales are very slow. A great deal of honey is still in the hands of beekeepers and their cooperatives. This is because the packaging industry and large retailers are bringing in honey from other countries, at prices well below the production costs in Spain. What little is sold is sold at prices that do not cover the costs per kilogramme, which have shot up because of oil and other input prices.

Beekeepers in Spain and the EU are therefore facing an extremely serious situation, as the rise in costs is accompanied by a lack of income and a depreciation in the value of their product.

In view of the above:

1. What measures does the Commission intend to take to alleviate the serious crisis in the honey market and put an end to unfair or fraudulent use of the European standard, so as to ensure that the origin of a honey is correctly indicated on its label?

2. Does it intend to provide specific aid for the beekeeping sector in order to offset the rise in energy costs?

Submitted: 8.3.2023

Answer given by Mr Wojciechowski on behalf of the European Commission (23 April 2023)

Honey placed on the EU market must comply with the definition and quality criteria set in the EU Honey Directive (1). The directive requires labelling of the country of origin for single origin honeys.

Under the ongoing review of this directive, the Commission is considering introducing mandatory labelling for all individual countries of origin in honey blends in order to improve market transparency and information to consumers.

Detecting and fighting food fraud is the responsibility of Member States under the Official Control Regulatio n (2). It provides a set of tools to tackle fraud, including provisions for cooperation in case of violations spanning across borders (3) and gives the Commission a role in coordinating and enforcing the effective application of measures at EU level.

The EU currently supports its beekeeping sector mainly through apiculture sectoral interventions which are a mandatory part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic plans.

These are co-financed under the CAP with an annual budget of EUR 60 million, which is at least doubled with national co-financing. Member States can also increase their co-financing up to 70%.

To compensate for the rise in energy costs due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine, Member States have also the possibility to establish state aid measures under the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (4).

1 ∙ ⸱ Council Directive 2001/110/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to honey, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02001L0110-

20140623&qid=1678814698190

2 ∙ ⸱ Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2017 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the

application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products. 3 ∙ ⸱ https://food.ec.europa.eu/safety/agri-food-fraud/administrative-assistance-and-cooperation-system_en 4 ∙ ⸱ Communication from the Commission Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework for State Aid measures to support the economy following the aggression against

Ukraine by Russia, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv%3AOJ.C_.2023.101.01.0003.01.ENG&toc=OJ%3AC%3A2023%3A101%3ATOC