Interim Bulgarian Prime Minister Marin Raykov has agreed to back European Commission proposals to suspend the use of damaging pesticides on crops attractive to bees.

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The Bulgarian leadership had been amongst a number of Member States that helped block the Commission's proposals during Council negotiations in March. Bulgaria abstained from voting in the Council meeting, which drew criticism from environmentalists in the country.  

The current round of talks began in January, when EU health watchdog EFSA published the results of a scientific review of the data on neonicotinoid pesticides, the most widely used preparations in the bloc; EFSA advised introducing a moratorium on neonicotinoids after finding they pose an "unacceptable" threat to bees.  

On Monday, the Bulgarian Prime Minister declared, "Bulgaria will definitely vote in favour of banning neonicotinoid pesticides. Both personally and as head of government I support [beekeepers'] position and I think that these pesticides must be banned because without bees there is no life."

The comments were made following a meeting with campaigners from 'Save the Bees' and protests by beekeepers and environmentalists in Bulgaria's capital Sofia. Although there is strong evidence linking neonicotinoid pesticides with harmful effects on bees, which have been widely studied as they are a commercial insect, little is known about the pesticides' effects on other wild pollinators, populations of which also appear to be in decline.

Mr Raykov pledged to support the Commission's proposed moratorium at the next EU Council meeting on 29 April. Bulgaria's food and agriculture minister Professor Ivan Stankov confirmed that the ministry would back Prime Minister Raykov's stance in voting next week.

Three active substances, clothianidin, thiamethoxam and imidacloprid were found to threaten bees in EFSA's review; the chemicals are manufactured in the EU by Bayer CropSciences and Syngenta, based in the Germany and the UK. Although neonicotinoid use is heavily restricted in Germany, both the German and British ministers voted against a partial ban last month.

Pesticide manufacturers claim that loss of habitat and disease represent the major threats to bee populations and maintain that their products, if used correctly, do little harm. The two companies released a joint set of proposed measures last month which they said could "unlock the EU stalemate on bee health" and obviate a partial EU ban on their pesticides. The measures include planting wildflower margins and investing in research into bee disease and technologies to reduce bees' exposure to dust emissions from planting treated seed.

However, despite the industry claims, the Bulgarian food and farm ministry stated on Monday that tests in 2011 showed that, although diseases appeared to account for a significant percentage of bee deaths, pesticide poisoning was the greatest threat to bees.

The ministry said there "have been increasingly worrying signs of extinction of colonies and in 2012 mortality rose sharply." In some Eastern provinces of Bulgaria, winter bee mortality has reached 30 to 50 per cent, and in the Strandzha region in the South, it has reached 80-85 per cent.