Apple Snail pest — eradication

23.2.2015

Question for written answer E-002674-15
to the Commission
Rule 130
Ramon Tremosa i Balcells (ALDE)

The Ebro Delta, with its 22 000 hectares of rice fields, is one of the Mediterranean's most important rice growing areas. Cultivation of rice forms the main basis of the Delta's environmental and economic sustainability but this is now facing a very real threat from the pest Pomacea insularum, first sighted here in 2009. This invasive species is classified as one of the 100 most dangerous in the world and has caused serious damage in other wetlands around the world.

How does the Commission plan to address the need to control and eradicate this pest, as well as to stop it spreading?