The European Commission is taking legal steps against 15 member states, including Ireland, for failing to establish, implement and communicate their action plans to address the issue of invasive alien species in the EU.

These legal steps follow the unsatisfactory response of these member states after receiving a notice on the implementation of existing laws in June 2021.

The countries that legal steps have been taken against are: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia.

Member states have now two months to respond and to take the necessary measures, otherwise the cases may be referred to the Court of Justice.

Proceedings against Bulgaria, Greece and Romania also concern the failure to establish a surveillance system of invasive alien species of ‘EU concern’.

The EU justifies its measures with the significance of the damage such species cause to the environment and health.

EU regulation

Under EU regulation, member states are required to identify and manage the pathways by which invasive alien species are introduced and spread. This is crucial, since a large proportion of such species are introduced unintentionally into the EU.

Potential pathways, among others, include live organisms that are unintentionally transported through fishing equipment, trade containers or pests on traded plants or timber that go unnoticed, according to the commission.

Despite prioritisation of pathways, only 12 member states have drawn up, adopted and communicated their action plans to the European Commission.

European biodiversity

Invasive alien species are plants and animals that are introduced through human action into an environment they are not normally found in. These species are one of the five major causes of biodiversity loss in Europe and cause an estimated economic damage of €12 billion/year, the commission stated.

There are at least 12,000 alien species in the European environment, of which 10–15 % are invasive. These often have significant economic impacts, reducing yields from agriculture, forestry and fisheries, the commission added.

Currently, a number of 66 species are considered to be of ‘Union concern’, for instance plants such as the water hyacinth and animals like the Asian hornet or the raccoon.

The Asian hornet for example – which was introduced by accident in 2005 – preys on native honey bees and reduces local native insect biodiversity, according to the commission.

Preventive actions are an essential investment since it is “much more effective and cheaper to prevent the introduction of invasive species than to address and mitigate the damage once they are widespread,” the European Commission concluded.