From 22 to 24 March 2026, I undertook a business trip to Brussels, the main purpose of which was to participate in expert meetings focused on assessing the invasiveness of eight selected non-native species. These discussions represent some of the initial steps that could, in the future, lead to their inclusion on the list of invasive alien species of Union concern, commonly referred to as the “Union list”.
This list includes species that are non-native to the EU as a whole, for which negative impacts are either already documented or highly likely, that have the capacity to spread across Member States, and for which effective measures exist to prevent or mitigate their introduction, spread, and adverse impacts.
The issue of non-native crustaceans is currently of particular importance, not only in the context of ongoing ecological and climate change, but also due to the rapid spread of several key species across Europe. Our participation was highly valued thanks to our long-standing scientific outputs in this field. Among the assessed species were the Florida crayfish (Procambarus alleni), whose first and, to date, only European population we recorded in Hungary in 2018 (original article here), and the Oriental river prawn (Macrobrachium nipponense), whose first occurrences in Central Europe—specifically in Germany and Hungary—were recorded by our team in 2023 (original article here).
Owing to our close engagement with the subject, long-term primary data collection, extensive international collaboration, and scientific publications, we can provide uniquely relevant information that has a direct impact on European decision-making in the field of water protection and biodiversity conservation.
