A comparative assessment of existing policies on invasive species in the EU Member States and in selected OECD countries
In 2008, the EU Commission first published a policy document on invasive species ‘Towards an EU strategy on invasive species’. Following this, the Commission commissioned several studies about invasive alien species. The latest study, ‘Assessment to support continued development of the EU Strategy to combat invasive alien species’ presented an overview of possible components and options of such a strategy. In parallel, a stakeholder consultation was performed in September 2010 and following this meeting, 3 working groups were launched on (1) Prevention, (2) Early warning and rapid response, and (3) Control, management, restoration.
The EU Commission is now preparing an impact assessment of this strategy. The main objective of this project (‘Comparative assessment of existing policies on invasive species in the EU Member States and in selected OECD countries’) is to systematically screen policies in the 27 EU Member States. It will in particular highlight gaps and inconsistencies, as well as existing and missing pieces of legislation in each Member State. In addition, the policies on invasive alien species of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA have been selected as case studies. The legislation in the countries studied will help to identify best practices, lessons learnt as well as costs when available. This project, financed by the DG Environment of the EU Commission, has been undertaken by NOBANIS and by the consultant ‘BIO Intelligence Service’.
Sources
Helene Nyegaard Hvid, NOBANIS, E-mail: nobanis@sns.dk