29 Amendments of Lena EK related to 2011/2051(INI)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 8 a (new)
Citation 8 a (new)
- having regard to the Communication from the Commission, ‘A Roadmap for moving to a competitive low carbon economy in 2050’ (COM(2011)0112),
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 20 a (new)
Citation 20 a (new)
- having regard to its resolution of 5 May 2010 on an evaluation and assessment of the Animal Welfare Action Plan 2006- 20101,
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the "Roadmap for moving to a low-carbon economy by 2050" highlights the great potential of agriculture to contribute to the Europe 2020-strategy and for farmers to add an additional revenue stream to their income by increasing their production of sustainable energy, thereby creating new jobs and contributing to solve the climate crises,
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas rural development is an important instrument of the CAP and whereas the new programmes should be geared even more strongly to the priority objectives of rural development and of farmers (employment, the agricultural environment, water, energy production, climate change, innovation and education),
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Expects the re-design of the CAP to align with the EU 2020 Strategy priorities of smart, inclusive and sustainable growth; Believes that agriculture is well placed to make a major contribution to tackling climate change, creating new jobs through green growth and supplying renewable energy whilst at the same time continuing to provide safe, high quality food products and food security for European consumers;
Amendment 454 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Insists, in line with the Commission Communication, that direct payments be distributed to active farmers only, defined according to appropriate objective and non-discriminatory criteria granting the possibility of support to all natural or legal persons whose agricultural activity forms a significant part of their economic activities, or whose principal business or company object consists of exercising an agricultural activity, in line with Article 28(2) of Regulation EC No. 73/2009;
Amendment 455 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12b. Does not believe that the Commission's proposal to introduce an upper ceiling for direct payments would deliver its objectives as it would simply result in the administrative splitting up of large agricultural holdings for pure accountancy purposes; is of the opinion that a degree of degression in the amounts large-scale farms receive from the basic direct payments could be envisaged;
Amendment 456 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 490 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Calls for the introduction of a second-tier of direct payments consisting of 25 to 30% of the basic direct payments in each Member State to be used as an EU-wide incentivisation scheme targeted at enhancing sustainability by improving both resource and production efficiency, making EU agriculture more competitive, in line with the recently published Commission's 'Roadmap for moving to a competitive low carbon economy in 2050';
Amendment 495 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Calls for a list of EU agreed measures to be established that will deliver the above-mentioned sustainability element of the first pillar with the twin- objective of enhancing farm environmental sustainability throughout Europe while improving farm competitiveness2; __________________ 2 See Annex 2 for an indicative list of measures
Amendment 496 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Calls for Member States, on a compulsory basis, to choose at least 2 to 3 measures from that EU list according to their priorities; Notes that in order to take account of the diversity of agricultural practices, productions, and ecosystems which characterises some of the Member States, the choice of measures may differ in different regions within a Member State;
Amendment 497 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 d (new)
Paragraph 14 d (new)
14d. Believes that the EU has a role to play in meeting the challenges of food security and energy security, and therefore needs to ensure that agriculture plays a full role in meeting both these challenges; Believes therefore, that it is inappropriate for compulsory set-aside to be included in the list of sustainability measures as proposed by the Commission;
Amendment 498 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 e (new)
Paragraph 14 e (new)
14e. Calls, however, for farmers to have the freedom to opt in to the measures if they want to receive the sustainability payment, and there will be no additional penalties if they choose not to;
Amendment 499 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 f (new)
Paragraph 14 f (new)
14f. Believes that any controls put in place to check the implementation of the payments received under the sustainability top-up should be accommodated within the current integrated agricultural control system (IACS), so as to avoid the duplication of control systems under pillar 1, and that when on-farm checks are necessary, they take place at the same time as the checks already carried out for cross-compliance requirements and direct payments entitlements, or at the same time as checks on compliance with agri- environmental measures under pillar 2;
Amendment 506 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Considers that decoupling has essentially proved its worth, given the increased effect on income andallowing greater autonomy in decision-making on the part of farmers and the associated simplification of the CAP, and calls for this also, in general, to apply to suckler cow and sheep premiums; recognises, however, that in certain sectors and regions such as mountain regions, where there are no alternatives to relatively labour-intensive livestock farming, there may be considerable economic and environmental drawbacks which cannot be reconciled with the aims of the Treaty; acknowledges, therefore, that production- based premiums might be defensible within a narrowly defined framework for a limited period even after 2013, ensuring farmers respond to market signals, placing the vast bulk of the CAP into WTO green box and the associated simplification of the CAP, therefore calls for decoupling to continue to apply as a general guiding principle for direct payments;
Amendment 643 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Calls for the CAP to include targets for the use of sustainable energy; believes that the agriculture sector could use 40% renewable fuels by 2020 and be fossil free by 2030;
Amendment 763 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26a. Calls for necessary measures within the CAP that would support research, education efforts, etc, with the goal of enabling the use of agricultural residues in the production of sustainable energy, thereby adding an additional revenue stream to the income of farmers;
Amendment 785 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 c (new)
Paragraph 27 c (new)
27c. Believes that genuine efforts are being made to simplify the system and reduce the administrative red-tape placed on farmers; calls however for a simplified, more proportionate and risk-based approach by the Commission and Member States to the implementation of regulatory controls, the conduct of compliance audits and the system of penalties;
Amendment 848 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Considers that the health check approach should be pursued further, as these existing market instruments have also demonstrated their value as a safety net; takes the view that these market measures, and in particular intervention, should only be used as a minimum safety net in case of extreme price crises and potentialmajor market disruption;
Amendment 992 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Acknowledges that in the WTO negotiations the EU has offered to abolish export refunds, albeit with the proviso that other trading partners (particularly the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) also bring their export support into line with WTO rules; calls for the EU likewise to formulate a system for export credits which complies with WTO rulesReaffirms the EU commitment to phase-out export refunds by 2013 if this move is reflected in WTO partners abandoning in parallel similar measures and measures having equivalent effect, in particular the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand;
Amendment 1014 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
45. Advocates that the 2006 sugar market reform be extendreviewed toin 2020 in its existing form in order to develop a system for the subsequent period which can operate without quotas15 with a view to bringing in further reforms by 2020;
Amendment 1049 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 a (new)
Paragraph 47 a (new)
47 a. Calls for measures to be taken to strengthen primary producers' and producer organisations' management capacity and bargaining power vis-à-vis other economic operators in the food chain (primarily retailers, processors and input companies), provided these developments do not hinder the proper functioning of the internal market; takes the view that the functioning of the food supply-chain should be improved, through greater transparency of food prices and action to address unfair commercial practices, enabling farmers to obtain the added value they deserve; believes that the appointment of ombudsmen should be considered with a view to solving disputes between the operators along the food supply-chain;
Amendment 1128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49 b (new)
Paragraph 49 b (new)
49 b. Believes that Green growth should be at the heart of a new rural development strategy that focuses on creating new opportunities in terms of: - developing rural areas' potential to produce more renewable and sustainable energy from second-generation biofuels, from biomass, agro-materials, agro-waste and the by-products of agriculture; - boosting on-farm small-scale renewable energy production; - investing in innovative techniques as well as projects for applying research and development on farms; - providing technical support and advice to farmers, especially young farmers, in applying new agricultural techniques;
Amendment 1129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49 b (new)
Paragraph 49 b (new)
49 b. Asks the Commission to establish new financing tools supporting especially farmers entering the agricultural sector in getting access to favourable loans, or a new system, for instance called JERICHO ("Joint Rural Investment CHOice"), for the Rural Development Fund, based on the experience from the JEREMIE initiative under the Structural funds;
Amendment 1136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49 d (new)
Paragraph 49 d (new)
49 d. Believes that farmers can actively contribute to biodiversity, landscape management and environmental protection, as well as climate change adaptation and mitigation, in a cost- effective way; calls for the CAP to provide the opportunity for the vast bulk of agricultural land to be covered by agri- environmental schemes to further incentivise a majority of farmers for the delivery of additional eco-system services while encouraging more sustainable, lower-input production models such as organic farming, precision farming, the development of high-nature-value farming and sustainable intensive agricultural practices; recalls in this context that the agri-environmental programmes must be designed so as to closely fit national and regional priorities and specificities, and be clearly differentiated from the sustainability element of the first pillar in their objectives, scale and tools;
Amendment 1147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50
Paragraph 50
50. Advocates in this connection that the compensatory allowance for disadvantaged areas be retained in the second pillar; considers that it should be ascertained what cofinancing rate appears to be appropriate; calls on the Commission to retain the existing criteria for demarcation of disadvantaged areasfinalise the review of the delimitation of the LFA and to implement these new objective criteria at the latest from the 1st of January 2014;
Amendment 1196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53
Paragraph 53
53. Calls for abrupt changes in the allocation of appropriations in the second pillar to be avoided, as Member States require certainty to enable them to plan and continuity of financing fair redistribution of second pillar funds to be achieved between Member States, according to objective criteria that must reflect the diversity of needs in European rural areas and the different priority objectives to be achieved by different Member States; Advocates for these changes to be achieved after a transition period in parallel with the changes made to first pillar funds distribution and so as to avoid sudden changes that may be disruptive;
Amendment 1228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 56
Paragraph 56
56. Welcomes the move towards greater coordination at EU level of EU funds; advocates, however, that the funds be preserved as politically autonomous instrumentbetween rural development programmes and cohesion policy in particular, with a view to avoiding duplication, contradictory objectives and overlapping; recalls however, that the scale of the projects under EU cohesion policy and rural development programmes is different and therefore advocates for the funds to remain distinct and for rural development programmes to maintain their focus on rural communities;