22 Amendments of Anthea McINTYRE related to 2014/2147(INI)
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas Union support for POs is aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of the sector and improving the bargaining position of farmers, restoring balance in the food supply chain, promoting F&V and supporting innovation, whilst also integrating environmental concerns in the production and marketing of fruit and vegetables;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas these figures for the Union as a whole are averages reflecting highly divergent situations between Member States, which are attributable to historical factors, different market conditions and barriers and reflect different starting points in the drive towards setting up POs;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the organisation rate among producers remains low on average and has been partly caused by the suspension and de-recognition of POs, which causes uncertainty among producers;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Ga (new)
Recital Ga (new)
G a. whereas in the EU, the F&V sector accounts for 18% of the total value of agricultural production, uses only 3% of the cultivated land and is worth more than EUR 50 billion;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
G b. whereas the F&V supply chain has an estimated turnover of more than EUR 120 billion, with approximately 550 000 employees and acts as an economic multiplier at European level, stimulating both demand and the creation of added value in other economic sectors;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Ha (new)
Recital Ha (new)
H a. whereas, according to Eurostat, total input costs for EU farmers climbed on average by almost 40 % between 2000 and 2010, while farm gate prices increased on average by less than 25 %;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas data from Freshfel Europe indicates that consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables in the EU-28 stood at 387 g a day per capita in 2012, a decrease of 8.7 % as compared with the average for the 2007-11 period; whereas this decline seems to reflect long-term trends towards greater consumption of processed foods and the impact of the economic crisis in spite of the substantial health benefits which eating fruit and vegetables bring;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas the 2015 AREFLH study points out that the EU market is relatively open to imports, whilst European exports face considerable tariff and non-tariff barriers in trading partners; whereas, although imports from third countries compete directly with similar EU products, in some instances the same environmental and labour standards are not applied in their cultivation;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission’s report, which provides a balanced picture of the evolution of the F&V regime since the 2007 reform, identifying areas where progress has been achieved whilst also referring to problems that persist; and acknowledging the need for simplification; stresses, however, that the data used by the Commission is for the period 2008 to 2010 and does not provide an accurate picture of the rate of organisation in the period following, which has declined in some Member States;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1a (new)
Paragraph 1a (new)
1a. Welcomes the measures in the EU F&V regime which are intended to increase market orientation among EU growers, encourage innovation, promote F&V, increase growers' competitiveness and improve marketing, product quality and the environmental aspects of production, through the provision of support to POs, PO associations and the recognition of inter-branch organisations, also promoting the formation of clusters that will generate new income streams, to be channelled into new investments;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1b (new)
Paragraph 1b (new)
1 b. Welcomes the fact that the new CAP retains the F&V regime, while acknowledging that existing instruments have not always been effective, as recognised by the Commission in its public consultation document entitled 'A Review of the EU Regime for the Fruit and Vegetables Sector', and therefore supports the work of the Newcastle Group aimed at improving F&V regime, which should take account of the specific nature of the legal arrangements governing cooperatives in the Member States, so as not to limit the creation of new POs, while respecting the fact that growers may opt to remain outside the PO system;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1c (new)
Paragraph 1c (new)
1 c. Notes with concern that PO rules are open to wide interpretation by the Commission's auditors, which leads to a high degree of uncertainty and can leave Member States at risk of disallowance and judicial review; stresses, also, that audit procedures and financial corrections must be carried out in a more timely manner and within an agreed audit time period;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Emphasises that, despite this increase, the degree of organisation among producers remains low on average and that addressing this problem is crucial for the future of the F&V regime; further emphasises that this low level of organisation is not helped by the complexity of PO rules which has resulted in the suspension and de-recognition of POs in some Member States; therefore calls on the Commission to reverse this decline by simplifying the scheme's rules to make POs more attractive to join;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses in this context that it is important to increase the overall level of support to POs and to provide stronger incentives both foremove barriers which make POs less attractive to producers, hinder the merginger of existing POs and deter the creation of new ones;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Considers that reducing complexity, including in the rules for creating newthe need to produce clear and simple guidance on the recognition criteria for POs, should be the first step in making them more attractive for farmers; requests that the Commission identify additional measures for increasing the atfurther improve the attractiveness of POs by ensuring the rules reflect the different market strauctiveness of POures which exist in different Member States;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Calls on the Commission to reduce the legal uncertainties that exist in relation to a PO's outsourcing activities by producing clear and more detailed guidance on the level of control a PO needs to have over its outsourcing activities; stresses that it is unrealistic to expect a PO to maintain full commercial and administrative control over activities it has outsourced to other legal entities; therefore calls on the Commission to revise the scheme's rules to better reflect modern business and commercial realities;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Calls on the Commission in its review of the fruit and vegetables regime to reduce the administrative burden for POs by abolishing mid-term evaluations carried out by National Authorities; notes that these evaluations often duplicate the questions asked of National Authorities in its annual reporting and provide no obvious benefit; further calls on the Commission, as part of its aim to cut red tape, to reduce the amount of information it requests from National Authorities and POs in annual reports, and to ensure that only data which is actually used by the Commission to monitor the scheme's effectiveness is collected;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8 c. Urges the Commission to revisit Delegated Regulation 499/2014 of 11 March 2014 which introduced more complex checks on POs including disproportionate penalties for failing to meet complex recognition criteria; stresses the need for proportionality in relation to penalties if we are to encourage new growers to join the scheme and prevent existing members from rethinking their participation;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Considers that associations of producer organisations (AOPs) and transnational producer organisations (TPOs) could play an important role in increasing the bargaining power of farmers and; therefore urges the Commission to reinforce inceduce the legal uncertaintives that exist for setting up APOs and envisage a greateTPOs by producing clear roule for them in the futures and more detailed guidance for POs and Member States;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Emphasises the need to make it easier for producers to gain access to third-country markets; calls on the Commission to increase its efforts to support exporters of fruit and vegetables to overcome the increasing number of non-tariff barriers, such as some third- country phytosanitary standards that make export from the EU difficult, if not impossible;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Emphasises that, through their operational programmes, POs can make important contributions to achieving environmental goals and improving food safety standards; asks the Commission to consider how these effects can be maximised, for example through the strengthening of integrated pest managementwelcomes the scheme's environmental objectives but calls on the Commission to allow POs to adapt their operational programmes to suit their level of maturity as well as to target their funds on a broader range of measures aimed at increasing the sector's overall competitiveness; stresses that a greater focus on measures aimed at innovation and added value have the most potential to improve producer incomes and thereby make POs more attractive to join;
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Believes that encouraging healthier eating habits goes hand in hand with understanding more about farming and how food is produced and, supports, in this context, the objective of strengthening the educational dimension of the school fruit and milk programmes;