Weed biological control regulation in Europe: boring but important.

If the Europe Union (EU) is to deliver on its Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) commitments and its Member States are to have any chance of achieving a good status classification for their water bodies, classical biological control will be needed. A lack of history and considerable inertia impede the development of biological control programmes but an inappropriate and ineffective regulatory environment could prove more of a barrier to weed biological control implementation. This paper reviews the current situation in Europe and considers the codes and regulations for the release of arthropods and fungi before considering the suitability of pest risk assessments.

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