Biological invasions are the second most important cause of the extinction of species worldwide (and in Belgium) after the loss of natural habitats. Organisms can be introduced beyond their natural range, either intentionally or unintentionally.  Those include disease-causing viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, mosses, ferns, flowering plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. When invasive, they can cause environmental damage and can have a detrimental impact on health, the economy and safety.

IAS have an adverse impact on indigenous species and can have a profound negative effect on the functioning of ecosystems.

At economic level, they can among others negatively affect crop yields, obstruct waterways, and generate public health problems (they can be vectors for parasites and diseases or produce allergenic substances and toxins). Often, they result in significant management costs in order to restrict their development, to limit their damage or to restore the ecosystems.

In order to establish rules to prevent, minimise and mitigate the adverse effects of invasive alien species (IAS), the EU Regulation 1143/2014 entered into force on 1 January 2015. The Regulation stipulates a series of measures that apply to any organism listed on the list of invasive alien species of Union Concern.

At the European level, the actual implementation of the Regulation is performed through two main bodies:

• The EU Scientific Forum on IAS, made up of representatives of the scientific community appointed by the Member States, which provides advice on any scientific question related to the application of the Regulation, and in particular, on whether additional species for inclusion on the list of EU concern and their associated risk assessments are robust and fit for purpose.
• The EU Committee on IAS, composed of representatives of all Member States, discusses the compliance of the proposed species with the criteria for listing. Any update of the Union list is subject to the positive opinion of the IAS Committee.

The implementation of the EU Regulation on IAS is based on a close cooperation between all the Member States. Concretely, the species included on the list of EU concern are subject to restrictions and measures set out in the Regulation. These include restrictions on keeping, importing, selling, breeding and growing. Member States are required to take action on pathways of unintentional introduction, take measures for early detection and rapid eradication of these species, and to manage species.

In Belgium, the implementation of the Regulation involves the competences of the Federal State and the Regions. Therefore, in order to implement this Regulation in Belgium, a Cooperation Agreement has been drafted and is under the process of being endorsed between the federated entities. The Cooperation Agreement creates three official national structures:

• The Scientific Council on IAS, composed of scientific experts providing advice to the National Committee on IAS.
  
• The National Committee on IAS, composed of decision-makers who develop and adopt Belgium's position on the Union List and its updating (Belgium's position is then shared with other Member States within the EU Committee on IAS).
  
• The National Scientific Secretariat on IAS, supporting the Scientific Council in answering questions of the National Committee on IAS.

According to article 13 of the EU IAS Regulation, all member states are required to identify and prioritize pathways of unintentional introduction of alien invasive species of Union concern. Priority pathways of unintentional introduction for the 49 invasive alien species of Union Concern listed to date, were identified at the scale of Belgium. Based on this exercise, a set of action plans are under development in order to address the priority pathway identified. Belgium will establish and implement these action plans for its territory and as far as possible coordinated at the appropriated regional/federal level.

Additionally, member states are required to take a decision on the management options. For this purpose, Belgium performed a manageability assessment in 2018. The project relies on experts to score the feasibility of management strategies for Union List species using an adaptation of the Non-Native Risk Management scheme (NNRM) of Booy et al. (2017) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-017-1451-z/fulltext.html. Species that are believed to be unable to establish in Belgium are excluded from the exercise. The NNRM uses semi-quantitative response and confidence scores to assess seven key criteria linked with management feasibility of an invasive species: Effectiveness, Practicality, Cost, Impact, Acceptability, Window of opportunity and Likelihood of re-invasion. The approach was slightly adapted to fit the needs and practice in Belgium. The undertaking of this assessment was agreed upon and formalized by the Belgian IAS scientific council & IAS committee and aims to: 1) Support the EU Regulation implementation in Belgium; 2) Provide a sound evidence base for decisions on IAS management through a transparent, repeatable process; 3) Provide an evidence base for derogations on the rapid response obligation ( Art 18 ); 4) Provide a means of structured decision making for IAS management through a participatory approach of the Belgian expert community on IAS. The outcome of the present manageability assessment therefore provides support to the decision-making process but is not in any way a management recommendation.

The Commission will also be considering how to better integrate additional biodiversity concerns into the new Plant and Animal Health Regimes.

As a Party to the Bern Convention (Council of Europe), Belgium should implement the specific Bern recommendations on IAS issues including article 11, 2 b) which states that each Party should take measures to strictly control the introduction of non-native species. In order to implement this provision, the Standing Committee adopted a Pan-European Strategy on Invasive Alien Species which inter alia recommends drawing up and implementing national strategies on IAS taking into account the above-mentioned pan-European strategy (Recommendation No. 99/2003).

Tackling the IAS issue in an integrated way is a particular challenge in Belgium due to its complex institutional framework resulting in a division and fragmentation of competences on issues dealing with different aspects of IAS (e.g. environment, health and agriculture). In order to address this problem and meet the various commitments regarding alien species under treaties to which Belgium is a Party, concrete steps must be urgently taken and coordinated action plans developed when necessary by and between all the competent authorities.

The TrIAS project is currently undertaken It is aimed at dynamically, from year to year, track the progression of alien species, identify emerging species, assess their current and future risk and timely inform policy in a seamless data- driven workflow. One that is built on open science and open data infrastructures. By using international biodiversity standards and facilities, TrIAS ensures interoperability, repeatability and sustainability. This makes the process adaptable to future requirements in an evolving IAS policy landscape both locally and internationally.