25 Amendments of Nicola CAPUTO related to 2018/2046(BUD)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the EUR 60 billion in commitments and EUR 57,8 billion in payments that the Commission proposes in the Draft Budget (DB) 2019 for Heading 2, which, in relation to the 2018 budget, respectively represent an increase of 1,2% for commitment appropriations and 3,0% for payment appropriations; notes, however, that as far as the EAGF is concerned, this increase is attributable to the lower amount of assigned revenue estimated to be available to the EAGF in the DB 2019 compared to the 2018 budget; recommends that all should be made to avoid an accumulation of backlog payments for the next MFF (2021 - 2027);
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Insists on the need to provide funds to compensate for the economic losses suffered by farmers due to market crises and sanitary or phytosanitary crises such as Xylella fastidiosa, and reiterates the need to use the available margins under Heading 2 in cooperation with Heading 3 to this effect; insists that compensation for eradication should also cover rehabilitation of agroecosystems including the soil, as well as establishing robust biological diversity, especially ensuring genetic diversity of the planting stock that ideally includes resistance to or tolerance of the disease or pest; considers that one of the aims of any aid granted should be to ensure balanced, biologically diverse agro-ecosystems and landscapes that are less susceptible to future attacks;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Calls for additional funding to be earmarked for the olive-growing and olive oil sector to offset losses to farmers caused by the Xylella fastidiosa outbreak, to step up prevention measures in Europe and to restructure the sector and consolidate scientific research into the pathogen and its carrier;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1 c. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to monitor, in a timely manner, the price volatility of agricultural products, which has adverse effects on farmers' incomes, and to react promptly and effectively when needed;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1 d. Stresses that it is essential that funds earmarked for research in the agri- food sector, in particular from the Horizon 2020 budget, remain fully available as such in order to stimulate and enhance innovation and smart solutions in the agricultural and rural development sectors, as is the case with funds from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to enable broadband to be installed in rural areas; underlines the importance of practical applicability of results at farm level and the role of agricultural extension services; notes that integrated 'smart' solutions – such as smart villages, precision farming, digitalisation, the shared and circular economy, and social initiatives – can contribute to agriculture and overall well-being in rural areas; urges the Commission to plan funding for 'smart' approaches in the light of the CAP reform and the Cork 2.0 Declaration; highlights the fact that those 'smart' solutions should maintain coherence with environment, climate and biodiversity policy objectives, ensure close cooperation with relevant stakeholders from all Member States; stresses the importance of investing in precision agriculture with a view to streamlining production methods and reducing losses and of incentivising and supporting initiatives tailored to the needs of smallholdings without economies of scale so that they can benefit from new technologies;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1 e. Stresses that storage programmes have proved effective in times of crisis and that a reduction in the financial resources earmarked in the planning process would be counter-productive;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 f (new)
Paragraph 1 f (new)
1 f. Regrets the announced cuts to the CAP budget in the Commission’s MFF proposals; points out in particular that agriculture policy is a common policy and any cuts to the CAP budget would have disproportionate effects as they cannot be substituted by national funds due to state aid rules.
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Considers that the external dimension of the CFP makes it essential that realistic budgetary forecasts be drawn up with a view to funding sustainable fisheries partnership agreements with third countries;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Believes the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) to be a vital instrument providing significant European added value in terms of optimising the transport network in the EU as a whole by linking together and/or modernising new and existing transport infrastructure; points to the need to keep promoting the high-speed rail projects connecting western and eastern parts of Europe;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. RInsists that any revenue to the Union budget deriving from any assigned revenues or repayments of irregularities from agriculture in previous years should remain under heading 2 ; regrets that the support measures for the Russian embargo have not been prolonged given that numerous EU producers are still being negatively affected;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Points out that there are two key transport policy areas closely related to infrastructure development, i.e. the establishment of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) and the promotion of Motorways of the Sea and inland waterways, a project seeking to relieve the strain on land transport corridors and which could provide their ‛waterborne leg’; maintains that it is vitally important for the sustainability of transport in the EU for freight and passenger traffic to be shifted from the roads to means of transport carried by rail, sea, or inland waterway; points, therefore, to the vital importance of allocating the necessary funding for the development of the ERTMS and for the promotion of Motorways of the Sea and inland waterways;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Stresses the importance of the social and economic dimension of fishing for local communities and some maritime and coastal regions; recognises the need to maintain enough financial provisions for enabling coastal, artisanal and small scale fleet sectors to obtain funding;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Insists that any revenue to the Union budget deriving from any assigned revenues or repayments of irregularities from agriculture in previous years should remain under Heading 2, given the uncertain circumstances the agricultural sector is faced with; recalls in that respect that the Russian embargo has not been lifted and has severe negative effects notably for the fruit and vegetables sector and the dairy sector; calls therefore on the Commission to provide effective support to sectors affected by those crises and for the creation of a new crisis reserve that does not rely on an annual financial discipline mechanism for its funding so that it can react in a timely manner to crisis situations that emerge;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Reiterates the importance of drawing on rigorous and independent scientific opinions when assessing the state of fishery resources, so that management decisions can be taken which make it possible to achieve maximum sustainable yields (MSY); urges Member States to use EMFF funding for the purposes of scientific data collection which is a key task for enabling rational and science-based decisions to be taken on fisheries policy issues;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls that Galileo and EGNOS are widely used in the transport sector and that EGNOS has been fully operational since 2011; stresses that Galileo is entirely financed by the EU budget and that its full deployment will bring major benefits for the EU economy by providing real services to its industries and citizens; takes note that Galileo currently operates with 22 satellites and that its full deployment should be achieved by 2020 once its 30 satellites will be in orbit; considers therefore, and taking into account the pressing challenge of cybersecurity, that it is of the utmost importance that an appropriate budget is allocated to secure the next satellites launches; draws attention to the key tasks of the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA) as regards Galileo and the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS); believes that the GSA has to be sufficiently staffed to ensure that European satellite navigation system programmes (GNSS) operate properly and can be exploited to advantage;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Points out that the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) can only perform its role if provided with sufficient technical, economic and financial resources; calls on the Commission to ensure sufficient funding for the appropriations devoted to the EFCA in order to enable it to fulfil its tasks, in particular those attributed in the proposal on a European Border and Coast Guard package;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Maintains that efficient green logistics management encompassing all transport modes in the EU can do much to relieve traffic congestion and reduce CO2 emissions; urges the Commission to promote digitalisation in logistics, including for example cargo-pooling initiatives; draws attention to the fact that Motorways of the Sea are cornerstones of logistics and that ports and hinterland interconnections are the main hubs for multi-modal transport schemes;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Believes that the EU can make a vital contribution to the promotion of healthy eating habits based on sustainable production, especially among children, and therefore considers it essential to make full use of the ceilings foreseen for the EU school schemes in the current regulation; therefore calls on the Member States to strengthen their national programs to ensure full utilisation of the maximum available allocations (250 million euros for the EU);
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Welcomes the school milk and fruit schemes as a successful measure and stresses that the schemes contribute to children eating healthily and that the funds for them should therefore remain in the long term;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Emphasises the need to use the EMFF and other Union funding schemes to facilitate young people’s access to jobs in the fishing industry;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Deplores the insufficient execution of payments to young farmers in recent years and encourages Member States to promote the use of those appropriations the following year in order to boost generation renewal and avoid land concentration and land grabbing;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Highlights the importance of the rural development commitments and spending, and their potential for the creation of economic activity and jobs particularly in peripheral areas with higher unemployment rates, especially for younger generations; insists that the initiatives targeting young farmers, including region-specific programmes, should be maintained, which would support innovation and the necessary generation renewal; considers that support for young people should focus on their present needs, while avoiding to encourage them to take on excessive debt;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Underscores the importance of pilot projects and preparatory actions for innovation in the agricultural and rural development sectors: asks for continued support for ongoing and new pilot projects and preparatory actions;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Regrets the substantial reduction of the budget line concerning the voluntary coupled support scheme, given that coupled aids are an essential tool to preserve crops that present several agricultural and environmental benefits;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 68 a (new)
Paragraph 68 a (new)
68 a. Recalls the 2014 ECA analysis which estimated the costs of the geographic dispersion of the Parliament to be EUR 114 million per year; furthermore, notes the finding from its resolution of 20 November 2013 on the location of the seats of the European Union’s Institutions1a that 78 % of all missions by Parliament statutory staff arise as a direct result of the Parliament's geographic dispersion; emphasises that the report also estimates the environmental impact of the geographic dispersion to be between 11 000 to 19 000 tonnes of CO2 emissions; reiterates the negative public perception caused by this dispersion and calls therefore for a roadmap to a single seat and a reduction in the relevant budget lines; _________________ 1a OJ C 436, 24.11.2016, p. 2.