Seven actions to improve European biosecurity policy on ants

Invasive ants are among the alien species causing the greatest ecological, economic and health damage. The European Union has added four ant species to their list of alien species of Union concern in 2022, based on legislation in force since 2015. This Regulation constitutes a significant progress, but we believe that several actions are still needed to overcome and fill remaining policy and implementation gaps. Managing invasive ant species with efficient strategies can avert their severe ecological and economic impacts. Resulting from collaboration between ecologists, legislators, and practitioners, we propose seven actions that will enhance the prevention, surveillance, and management of invasive ants in the EU. We recommend: (1) prohibiting the intentional introduction of all alien ants for commercial and personal purposes, except in authorized cases; (2) establishing an Invasive Ants Prevention Plan; (3) cooperating with countries at points of exit; (4) establishing an Invasive Ants Management Plan; (5) building a network of ant taxonomists to ensure rapid identification; (6) raising awareness among the public and stakeholders; and (7) creating a dedicated and secure ‘Emergency Fund for Invasive Alien Species’ to support the rapid response mechanism. For all actions, we provide metrics to evaluate their implementation and success. By combining our own empirical experience, the situation in other countries, and expert consultations, we believe our recommendations offer a pragmatic and achievable path to improving the European Union's resilience to this growing threat. Although the actions are developed for ants, they can be extended to other invasive species.