Activities of Edouard FERRAND related to 2015/2227(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Enhancing innovation and economic development in future European farm management (A8-0163/2016 - Jan Huitema) FR
Amendments (16)
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the EU is the biggest exporter of agricultural products worldwide, making the agri-food sector a key economic pillar of the Union employing 47 million people in 15 million downstream enterprises in fields such as food processing, retail and services, and contributing to a positive trade balance of EUR 17 802 euro that represents 7.2 % of total value of EU exports; whereas the EU is, equally, the biggest importer of agricultural products worldwide and whereas certain imbalances, in particular that of vegetable proteins for animal feed (soya meal), need to be offset more effectively by means of ambitious programmes;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the competitiveness of the common agricultural policy (CAP) is mentioned as one of the key goals in Article 4(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, and increasing productivity and ensuring reasonable prices as mentioned in Article 39 TFEU can be best achieved through innovation; whereas since this increased competitiveness cannot be achieved through lowering social standards, our measures for dealing with social dumping, whether by Member States or third countries, must be improved;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
Ka. whereas given that the unprecedented crisis affecting European agriculture, and particularly the livestock sector, is a threat to the survival of all sectors, it makes no sense to seek to encourage investment, research and development without first stabilising producers' incomes and helping them to overcome the financial losses they have suffered;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K b (new)
Recital K b (new)
Kb. whereas the talks on the transatlantic free trade agreement (TAFTA) currently under way with the United States are a threat to European agricultural and agri- food production standards; whereas putting in place such an agreement would not only pose a new threat to the income of most farmers, but also be a step backwards with regard to the environment, animal welfare and food security; whereas agriculture and the agri-food sector should therefore be taken out of the talks so as to preserve the potential for agricultural innovation in the European Union;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K c (new)
Recital K c (new)
Kc. whereas since the proliferation of free trade agreements between the European Union and third countries encourages social and environmental dumping rather than innovation, agriculture should be excluded from these agreements and those already in force should be revised to this effect;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Is strongly convinced that economic development and sustainable production are not mutually exclusive and are achievable mainly through innovation; stresses the need to support innovation in technology and governance by providing regulatory coherence, clarity and room for entrepreneurship, and urges the Commission to ensure that innovation is explicitly taken into account in forthcoming reviews and reforms of relevant legislation; highlights the fact that European agriculture is able to produce high-quality and high-added value products together with profitable, knowledge-based solutions in order to feed a growing and more demanding world population;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the increased use of RPASs for farming purposes, since this can lead to savings in crop protection material and water usage; notes that a proposal for legislation is forthcoming in the revision of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)’s basic regulation, so that all drones would fall under EU competence; calls on the Commission to ensure that there arecalls on the Commission to encourage the Member States and their competent authorities to apply clear and unambiguous EU-wide standards and rules for the civil use of RPASs and that forthcoming legislation takes into account the specific conditions under which drones operateir specific use in agriculture;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Is alarmed at the weakness of current CAP crisis provisions; calls on the Commission to introduce mechanisms such as minimum prices for European agricultural products; finally, urges it to conduct a global review of ways to ensure fairer margin sharing between producers, processors and distributors;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Is concerned at the EU trade deficit in vegetable protein for livestock and calls for substantial funding to be earmarked for measures to reduce the deficit as rapidly as possible; notes that pilot projects for crops such as alfalfa are showing promising results in terms of farmers' incomes and also the environment; considers that is appropriate to continue along these lines by increasing available funding and developing research into a larger number of plant varieties;
Amendment 243 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
Amendment 263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
Amendment 299 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Stresses that the CAP should be more focused on farmers’ needs while not compromising policy goals; stresses the need for a more flexible legislative framework that is better aligned to deliver synergies with other sectors such as chemicals, health and technology, by enhancing knowledge crossovers, integration of resource use and better understanding of reciprocal effects in order to optimise their interplay and better integrate with the circular economy; stresses further that a market-oriented CAP will enhance the innovative power and competitiveness of the European agricultural sector by reducing government intervention and stimulating entrepreneurship;
Amendment 307 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Considers innovation to be an essential tool and a key horizontal policy priority for the CAP to develop, implement and achieve the objectives of the CAP reform 2014-2020; calls on the Commission, therefore, to provide a more ambitious overarching strategy with measurable outcomes in order to align and focus research and innovation vis-à-vis policy priorities; stresses that the CAP should provide more flexibility for the use of newly developed techniques and practices without an increase in burdensome rules and procedures; believes that a horizontal priority for the European legislative framework should be to ensure sufficient leeway for pilot programmes and testing for innovative techniques;
Amendment 311 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Is concerned about the proliferation of free trade agreements between the EU and third countries that are encouraging social and environmental dumping; is particularly concerned about the transatlantic free trade agreement (TAFTA) negotiations, given that they are threatening to compromise European agricultural production and food processing standards, including those relating to animal welfare, the environment, food safety, labelling and traceability; calls on the Commission therefore to seek the exclusion of agricultural matters from the transatlantic free trade agreement negotiations;