Farmers in Europe have recently expressed their dissatisfaction with EU policies, particularly with the Green Agenda, which aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The demands of those who protest are many and partly contradictory. It is a spontaneous movement, meaning that more souls live together and the subjects causing discontent can vary depending on the geographical areas. Among farmers, various associations of beekeepers took part in the protests, claiming that beekeeping is threatened and poorly protected by the rules of the European Union.
The beekeeping sector is increasingly suffering from declining pollinators, the effects of climate change and intensive agriculture and the lack of rules to protect producers. The current situation of the French honey market reflects this crisis: even if as a country it consumes more honey than it collects (from 45 to 50,000 tons, according to estimates of recent years, against 30,000 tons, estimated in 2022), producers find themselves with large quantities of unsold honey.
Professional beekeepers in France drafted a statement outlining their requests to the government. Their claims are mainly linked to the poor protection of the health of bees and beehive products, together with the issue of unfair competition with non-EU products.
The demonstrators argue that the first step must be taken in the direction of environmental protection: they reject the regression of environmental standards, call for the return of biodiversity and the cultivation of floral resources, and claim the need to do research and develop effective solutions for the control of parasites and predators of bees.
Secondly, beekeepers stress the need to regulate the honey market in France: they require more regulation of imports and the implementation of clauses against speculation. French beekeepers are struggling to sell their products also and especially because on the market there are foreign honeys, like the one from Ukraine, which benefit from much less stringent production guidelines and the recent reduction in customs duties.
“There has been a sharp increase in imports for two years”, says Patrick Boussard, president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alps Professional Beekeepers’ Union (Sapaura). “We went from 20,000 tons to 35,000 tons. Customs duties were lowered on honey imported from Ukraine, until they were eliminated”.
In addition, French beekeepers are calling for legislation to update the honey labeling guidelines. Currently, these allow for the identification of the product’s origin in very small characters, which deceive the consumer. Even the indications “honey mixture originating in the EU” or “honey mixture not originating in the EU” are now allowed.
In 2023, Parliament and the European Council reached a provisional political agreement on the updated rules on the composition, naming, labelling and presentation of certain food products, including honey. The agreement has not yet been adopted as a directive, but when it does, any jar of honey sold in Europe will have to precisely indicate the country of origin of the honey used, or of the honey used if it is a product of assembly.
“The problem of unfair competition would be significantly reduced if this regulation were to be adopted. This would be an important step forward”, says Clémence Rémy, Head of Beekeeping and Environment at UNAF (Union Nationale de l’Apicolture Française).