Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species

7.9.2017

Question for written answer P-005603-17
to the Commission
Rule 130
Karl-Heinz Florenz (PPE)

Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 on invasive species provides for a ban on the trade in invasive species within the EU.

Plants featuring on this list are subject to a sales ban. As regards the assessment of plants with regard to their invasive nature and their inclusion on the list, the Commission provides that, in addition to the damage to the environment, the economic consequences of a sales ban should also be taken into account. In order to take effective account of the adverse effects on the economy, it is necessary to consider the real consequences for the enterprises concerned. For it is only when the sale of a plant is actually banned that all the negative consequences for the businesses concerned become apparent. See the prohibition on sales of the so-called lamp cleaning grass (Pennisetum setaceum), which means that German enterprises alone have stocks of thousands of plants that cannot be sold. At the time of production, this direct sale ban could not have been foreseen. In nurseries, which grow perennials, the occurrence of such a situation is even less predictable at the time of planting.

How does the Commission intend adequately to address this consequence of its legislation?

Does the Commission intend to accompany the prohibition of invasive species with the introduction of a compensation scheme whereby producers (especially nurseries with perennials) that have cultivated plants that are listed as invasive species and are therefore subject to a sales ban will receive adequate compensation?