What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

18. Calls on the Commission to provide a comprehensive biocontrol strategy and a toolbox assessment of expected challenges in crop protection in the coming 10 years for specific crops, pests and diseases, with a view to supporting the development of alternative PPPs and IPM measures, especially using effective and affordable alternatives to identify gaps in plant protection and to anticipate withdrawals from the market, to allow users to plan sufficient transition periods during phase-out with the goal of creating a future-proof and fit-for-purpose framework;

19. Calls on the Commission to look into the possibility, in the longer term, of a new stand-alone biocontrol regulation, including the conditions upon which a centralised approach may apply, to better tailor the assessment, approval and authorisation procedures for biocontrol solutions;

Clearing backlogs

20. Calls for, as appropriate, sufficient resources to clear the backlog of delayed biological control applications, with the establishment of a priority lane, provided that it has received dedicated additional funding for the approval of biological control agents, within the approval and authorisation procedures for active substances and products under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, while also assessing and updating approval and authorisation procedures on the basis of scientific and technical developments; underlines that speeding up the assessment and authorisation of biocontrol solutions should not lead to any further delay in the risk assessment and authorisation of conventional substances and PPPs or delayed reviews of those that have been on the market for more than 10 years, in order to ensure a high level of protection;

Support for applicants

21. Notes the current provisions regarding help for applicants from the European Chemicals Agency and the European Medicines Agency; calls on the Member States and EFSA to provide technical support for applications from small and medium-sized enterprises, especially during the application preparation process, while applying clear safeguards to avoid conflicts of interest; calls on EFSA, while respecting the foregoing, to create a one-stop shop for SMEs producing biocontrol agents and to provide clear guidance and support for applicants on dossier preparation, providing explanations of data requirements and submission procedures, with the aim of improving the quality of applications, thus reducing delays in the assessment and authorisation process and facilitating the placing on EU markets of approved biocontrol agents;

22. Calls on the Member States to create time-efficient, clear and easy-to-understand administrative procedures adapted to biocontrol products, and risk assessments appropriate for their mode of action and nature of the product, and to establish dedicated helpdesks;

23. Calls on the Commission to urgently adopt updated guidance documents specific to biological control products to promote their uptake and enhance consistency across the Member States;

The application of Directive 2009/128/EC to promote biological controls, including via integrated pest management

24. Calls for the Member States to include, in their national action plans (NAPs) under Directive 2009/128/EC, in particular, planned and adopted measures to improve the authorisation procedures for biological control and other low-risk products;

25. Calls also on the Commission and the Member States, in coordination with farmers, to ensure the effective implementation of Directive 2009/128/EC, establishing easier access to biocontrol products, and to accompany farmers adopting more sustainable practices;

Potential of biological control solutions

26. Recognises the high potential of biological control approaches in reducing the dependency on conventional PPPs; notes that biological control solutions can complement conventional PPPs if due attention is paid, making them a useful addition to a broad and balanced farmers’ toolbox alongside other crop protection methods; stresses that the specific characteristics of biological control agents give them a different risk profile so they can offer targeted action with smaller off-target or residual effects, making them more compatible with IPM and, especially, organic farming practices; insists that the broader uptake of biological control can thereby significantly contribute to achieving EU environmental, food security and health objectives while maintaining agricultural productivity and ensuring that farmers are not left without effective and affordable alternatives to protect their crops;

27. Notes that facilitating the authorisation and uptake of biological control should be coupled with scaling-up the uptake of IPM and reducing the risks associated with and the dependency on conventional PPPs;

28. Calls on the Commission to ensure the effective implementation and enforcement of the sustainable use of pesticides under Directive 2009/128/EC and Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, particularly in relation to the timely processing of authorisation requests and integrated pest management; notes that in an integrated IPM approach, using authorised conventional products for which all the safety requirements for health and the environment have been met, always remain an option for farmers;

Assessment of performance capacities and resources

29. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to assess their administrative performance and institutional capacities and appropriateness of the resources allocated to, respectively, EFSA and the relevant national competent authorities to enable them to fulfil their tasks; emphasises that investment is needed in (re)assessment capacity in the Member States and EFSA;

30. Calls on the Commission to allocate the necessary additional funding for training and employing additional staff, including with appropriate and specialised expertise, within EFSA, and to establish dedicated and sufficient resources within EFSA’s organisational structure for biological control, in order to prevent undue delays in the approval process of active substances exerting biological control and to ensure tailored assessments and reduce bottlenecks; calls on the Commission to take appropriate follow-up actions to enable the acceleration of the approval procedure and increased uptake of biocontrol;

Strong Member State funding

31. Calls on the Member States to ensure sufficient budget is ring-fenced for the relevant national competent authorities, which is essential to prevent undue delays in biological control authorisation procedures and to accelerate the uptake of biocontrol; insists that the Member States should guarantee that the relevant national competent authorities have the sufficient budget, staff and expertise to carry out (re-) assessments in a timely and effective manner; highlights the benefits of Member States exchanging best practice;

32. Calls, likewise, on the Commission to propose measures and identify mechanisms and resources to support Member States in accelerating their authorisation procedures; proposes, in this regard, that the Commission develop guidance on necessary and minimum resources and capacity, applicable across the EU Member States, necessary to assess biological control products;

Research and investment

33. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to foster investment in public and private research and partnerships for the development of biological control and IPM strategies, including through research centres, universities and regional innovation hubs, EU innovation partnerships and lighthouse projects, with a special focus on SMEs through targeted programmes, as well as for fostering a competitive environment that enables and nurtures EU innovation and reduces the dependencies of EU agriculture;

34. Underlines the importance of research and development in biocontrol technologies over the coming decades, particularly research into addressing the protection gaps in specific crop-pest/disease combinations, for which few or no alternative pest control solutions exist, in order to direct innovation and regulatory efforts towards where they are most urgently needed;

Farmers’ access to knowledge

35. Notes that the use of biological control requires different approaches, knowledge bases and skill sets, particularly regarding the care of beneficial species that act to protect crops; notes that this is already partially incorporated into IPM and other production systems; underlines, however, that further knowledge, training, information and practical guidance on the effective use of biocontrol products is necessary in cooperation with farmers;

36. Notes that wide disparities remain between Member States’ access to knowledge and advisory services; calls for advice on the use and application of biological control options to be offered as part of suitably resourced, continued, independent advisory systems, that should be accessible to all farmers;

37. Calls on the Commission and the Member States, in collaboration with end users, to provide a digital EU platform, building on the ‘INSIGNIA’ pilot project, including long-term monitoring for pollinators, and the successful Parliament-initiated ‘IPM toolbox for farmers’ pilot project, for the dissemination of good practices and proven biological control solutions aiming to help farmers make informed decisions on the most effective type of biological control for the pest population structure and pedo-climatic conditions of the farm concerned, calls, furthermore, on the Commission to promote a wider toolbox including by making this digital platform a continued, more accessible and permanent initiative available in all EU languages, and to secure the involvement of all relevant stakeholders;

38. Stresses the need to increase access to knowledge through farmer training to build technical capacity using demonstration networks, peer-to-peer exchange and local technical support and incentives, including financial, with a view to promoting the safe, effective and widespread use of biological control; recognises the usefulness of monitoring access to knowledge and the dissemination of best practices regarding the uptake of biological control; notes the Member States’ and the EU’s current possibilities to co-fund and encourage farmer training through investments or extension services under farm advisory systems in the common agricultural policy; calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide appropriate support for biological control training, technical support and practical guidance and to consider how to best facilitate such voluntary training to incentivise more farmers to adopt biological control and IPM;

Cooperation between all actors

39. Calls for more scientific research, knowledge exchange, cooperation and capacity-building between all relevant actors involved in the process of the development, approval, authorisation, uptake and dissemination of biological control and best practices in implementing IPM across the EU, as well as in the process of exchanging knowledge and best practice with partners in non-EU countries;

Funding of advisory systems

40. Calls for details on advisory system funding, as well as training and capacities in biological control and IPM, to be included in the Member States’ NAPs; stresses that the development and availability of IPM crop- and pest-specific guidance remains inconsistent between Member States; encourages Member States to revise their NAPs to strengthen farmers’ access to crop- and pest-specific guidance that reflects regional realities and includes biological control options, their possible integration into IPM programmes and compatibility with other PPPs, where available and appropriate;

Monitoring progress

41. Calls for the Commission to regularly monitor the market uptake, availability and affordability of biological control solutions;

42. Calls on the Commission to monitor the EU’s and the Member States’ progress on the approval and authorisation of biological control solutions, looking at the number of applications, the associated administrative capacities, staffing levels and dedicated budgets, and especially the implementation of a priority lane with dedicated additional resources for biological control product authorisation, once it has been established; calls on the Commission to publish a report of the findings and submit it to Parliament and the Council;

Outermost regions

43. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that the EU’s outermost regions can benefit from the uptake of biological control by ensuring that authorisation processes account for their unique agro-ecological conditions and pest profiles, and by providing targeted training, advisory services, and funding support to farmers and SMEs in these regions; calls strongly for the development of crop- and pest-specific guidance and knowledge platforms that reflect the realities of outermost regions in order to enhance their access to safe, effective and sustainable biological control solutions;

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44. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.