24 Amendments of Angélique DELAHAYE related to 2017/2191(INI)

Draft opinion
Recital B

B. whereas Article 39(1)~~(b)~~ TFEU sets as one of the objectives of the common agricultural policy (CAP) that of ensuring a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, in particular by increasing the individual earnings of persons engaged in agriculture, stabilising markets and ensuring the availability of supplies;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)

Ba. whereas, given farming’s specific natural and structural features, the EU legislator has ever since 1962 defended the existence of a special status for the agricultural sector in regard to application of competition law and whereas this ‘agricultural exception’ has become ever more relevant in the context of a market-oriented CAP and the increased globalisation of agricultural markets;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)

Ba. whereas Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union sets price stability within the internal market as an objective;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)

Bb. whereas a clear and coherent regulatory environment in terms of adaptation of competition policy to the specific features of the agricultural market can help strengthen farmers’ position within the food supply chain by tackling power imbalances between operators, increasing market efficiency and ensuring legal certainty and a level playing field within the single market;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital B c (new)

Bc. whereas the most recent CAP reform brought in new exemptions to competition law that sought to boost farmers’ position in the food supply chain by promoting cooperation among them as a means of improving their bargaining power, enabling them to capture a bigger share of the value added for their products and making them more competitive;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital C

C. whereas, due to economic hazards in the farming sector, at times of crisis a market-oriented CAP needs to ~~provide support to farmers and~~ grant additional time-limited exemptions from competition rules;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital D

D. whereas climate~~-related hazards have the effect of~~ and health hazards can cause serious market imbalances and further weaken~~ing~~ primary producers; whereas such events might necessitate a reconsideration of the competition rules where essential food supplies are at risk;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)

Da. whereas in the Guidelines for State aid in the agricultural and forestry sectors and in rural areas 2014 to 20201 a, the European Commission acknowledged the special nature of the agricultural sector and its social structure, and the scale of the new challenges, such as food security and environmental and climate issues, it is facing; whereas this policy needs therefore to contribute to strengthening the economic viability of farms and promoting food supply chain organisation, rural development and social inclusion; _________________ 1a European Union Guidelines for State aid in the agricultural and forestry sectors and in rural areas 2014 to 2020 (OJ 1.7.2014, C-204/1)

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)

Da. whereas the specific problems inherent to agriculture, such as fragmented production, upstream- downstream imbalances, price volatility, inelasticity of demand or even the perishable nature of the goods, require competition rules specially suited to this sector;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital D b (new)

Db. whereas the Agricultural Markets Task Force drew up in November 2016 a whole series of proposals to strengthen the position of farmers in the food supply chain, review contractual tools available to farmers, combat unfair practices and clarify the agricultural exemptions to competition law; whereas these recommendations were welcomed by the EU institutions and stakeholders in the food supply chain;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital D b (new)

Db. whereas opening up the EU market to very competitive trade partners and major exporters of agricultural products constitutes a risk to sensitive farm sectors in the EU;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital D c (new)

Dc. whereas the October 2016 Study on agricultural interbranch organisations in the EU drew attention to the important role of interbranch organisations in the transmission of economic and technical information to stakeholders in the production chain; whereas this study demonstrates that interbranch organisations enable better risk and profit sharing;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Recital D d (new)

Dd. whereas the preliminary ruling pending before the Court of Justice in Case C-671/15 (‘endives’) bears witness to the need for associations of non- commercial producer organisations to have legal certainty in performing their duties;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Calls for an automatic express exemption from Article 101 TFEU to be provided, subject to the principles of necessity and proportionality, for agricultural inter-branch organisations in order to enable them to accomplish the tasks assigned to them by the CMO Regulation with a view to furthering the aims of Article 39 TFEU;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Believes that farmers in all sectors of production should be guaranteed the right to ~~collective bargaining~~joint negotiation, including the right to agree on ~~minimum~~common prices; believes that ~~farmers should fully engage with and be equipped with the means to exploit the potential of~~the EU and the Member States should continue to encourage farmers to fully engage with producer organisations, including producer cooperatives, their associations and inter- branch bodies, and should equip them with real means to exploit their potential;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Calls for clarification and amendment of the common market organisation provisions relating to competition law, not least with a view to ensuring that key economic information is communicated in good time to the entire production chain;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3b. Believes that ‘long’ inter-branch organisations, bringing together producers, processors, and distributors, should be allowed to hold meetings in order to discuss crisis prevention and management measures intended to restore market conditions making it possible to achieve the aims of Article 39 TFEU;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)

3c. Calls on the Commission to allow greater flexibility and afford legal certainty to agricultural sectors as regards competition, in accordance with Article 42 TFEU;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Notes that the individual ceiling for de minimis aid in the agricultural sector was doubled in 2013 (from EUR 7 500 to EUR 15 000 on a three-tax- year rolling basis) in order to cope with the upsurge in climate-driven, health, and economic crises; points out that the national de minimis ceiling was at that time adjusted only marginally (from 0.75% to 1% of the value of national agricultural production), thus reducing the latitude for Member States to assist farms in difficulties when confronted with crises occurring one after another in different sectors; calls, therefore, for the national de minimis ceiling to be raised to 1.5% of national agricultural production;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)

5c. Points out that in 2013 the Commission decided that farm businesses in difficulty covered by a rescue plan could receive de minimis aid up to the EUR 10 000 ceiling applicable to companies in difficulties, and calls for that ceiling to be increased;

2017/10/20
Committee: AGRI