Bees, Pollinators Remain at Risk Despite EU Efforts, Audit Finds

A decade’s worth of European Union plans and strategies to protect bees and other pollinators have had no discernible impact on halting their decline, the European Court of Auditors said in a critical report.

EU measures haven’t led to any changes in farming practices, nor to stricter controls on pollinator-harming pesticides, as the bloc’s members have circumvented EU restrictions on some plant protection products, according to the audit released Thursday.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, hasn’t been “assigning clear responsibilities” and no one in the commission’s powerful agriculture directorate has been working to protect pollinators, according to a ...