The EU today backed an almost total ban on insecticides blamed for killing off bee populations, in a move hailed by environmentalists as a "beacon of hope".
Bees help pollinate 90 per cent of the world's major crops, but in recent years have been dying off from "colony collapse disorder," a mysterious scourge blamed partly on pesticides.
European Union countries voted for a ban on the use of three neonicotinoid pesticides in fields, the European Commission said, meaning that they can only now be used in covered greenhouses where they cannot get into the environment.
Campaigners dressed in black and yellow bee suits brought a huge inflatable bee to a rally outside the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels ahead of the vote.
Chemical giants opposed the decision, saying it would hurt European farmers.
The EU brought in a partial ban in 2013 but decided on more drastic action after a major report by European food safety agency said in February that the chemicals posed a risk to honey bees and wild bees.
EU Environment Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis said he was "happy that member states voted in favour of our proposal" to restrict the chemicals and tweeted a picture of the activists.
A Commission statement said EU states had "endorsed a proposal by the European Commission to further restrict the use of three active substances... for which a scientific review concluded that their outdoor use harms bees."
It said in a statement that it "will not improve the lot of bees or other pollinators. The decision will further reduce European farmers' ability to tackle important pests, for many of which there are no alternative treatments available."
Sygenta said the decision was "disappointing, but not unexpected", adding that it "does not believe today's decision is the right outcome for European farmers or for the environment."
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