Under Action 1.2 of the EU Pollinators Initiative, the Commission, with the support of Member States and the European Environment Agency, is developing an integrated framework for monitoring pollinator decline, its causes and consequences. The work currently focusses on two key areas:
EU-PoMS was established through the delegated act under the Nature Restoration Regulation:
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2188 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1991 of the European Parliament and of the Council by establishing a science-based method for monitoring pollinator diversity and pollinator populations.
Please find more information about the delegated act in the accompanying explanatory memorandum.
EU-PoMS is a standardised, robust and science-based method for:
- collecting annual data on the abundance and diversity of pollinator species across ecosystems;
- assessing pollinator population trends;
- assessing the effectiveness of restoration measures adopted by Member States.
It represents a common framework across EU Member States that guarantees that the annual data collected across all national territories is comparable and reliable, providing a clear picture of progress toward the 2030 target to reverse the decline of pollinators.
The scientific and technical groundwork for EU-PoMS was developed through the STING projects, which were implemented by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre with the support of a group of leading pollinator experts. This STING work was published in two JRC technical reports. The outputs of the STING projects were tested and piloted on the ground by the SPRING project.
In addition to the STING and SPRING projects, the Commission has put in place numerous other activities to support EU Member States in the implementation of EU-PoMS, in particular by helping to build technical and administrative capacity through the following projects:
EPIC (European Pollinator Identification Courses) - training of pollinator identification experts (taxonomists)
TETTRIs (Transforming European Taxonomy through Training, Research and Innovations): training of taxonomic experts and development of taxonomic tools
ORBIT and TAXOFLY – development of a centralized taxonomic platform that consolidates species descriptions, images, and identification tools. This platform will support both professional taxonomists and citizen scientists.
MAMBO – integration of novel technologies in pollinator monitoring.
EU Biodiversity Observation Coordination Centre (EBOCC) – upcoming! Please see the ongoing tender procedure.
Monitoring of pollinator habitats – EMBAL (European Monitoring of Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes)
The European Monitoring of Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes (EMBAL) is a standardized field survey initiative by the European Commission to assess biodiversity across EU agricultural landscapes. EMBAL records land cover, landscape elements, habitat types, and pollination potential by evaluating flowering species' density and distribution. This provides essential information on the state of pollinator habitats.
The EMBAL methodological toolkit is available here. The EMBAL dataset is available at the JRC Data Catalogue.
Insignia is a Preparatory Action for environmental monitoring of pesticides using honeybees as bioindicators. The EU-wide survey was undertaken in 2023, encompassing pollutants such as pesticides, heavy metals, air pollutants, and microplastics. The survey collected nearly 10,000 samples from over 300 apiaries across all EU Member States, and conducted close to 17,000 analyses.
Please find more information here.