The ban comes on the heels of a study published in February by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which found harm from the neonicotinoids varied, but that "for all the outdoor uses, there was at least one aspect of the assessment indicating a high risk." Use of the three pesticides is already restricted in the European Union on crops such as oil seed rape, because of the concerns they have “sub-lethal” effects such as harming the bees’ ability to forage and form colonies. Member states have now endorsed proposals by the European Commission to completely ban the outdoor uses of the three active substances, meaning they can only be used in greenhouses. “It’s great news that Michael Gove listened to the experts and backed the ban – he must now give farmers the support they need to grow food without bee-harming pesticides.”

Antonia Staats, senior campaigner at Avaaz, which had led a petition backed by five million signatures to ban the chemicals, said: “Banning these toxic pesticides is a beacon of hope for bees. “Finally, our governments are listening to their citizens, the scientific evidence and farmers who know that bees can’t live with these chemicals and we can’t live without bees.”

Emi Murphy, bee campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “This a major victory for science, common sense and our under-threat bees.”

She called on Environment Secretary Michael Gove to give farmers the support they need to grow food without bee-harming pesticides. “The weight of evidence now shows the risks neonicotinoids pose to our environment, particularly to the bees and other pollinators which play such a key part in our £100bn food industry, is greater than previously understood,” UK environment secretary Michael Gove told the Guardian.
The European Union approves a total ban on neonicotinoids,suspected of harming bees, which is expected to come into force by the end of 2018.