Activities of Stefan ECK related to 2017/2009(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
EU action for sustainability - High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (debate) DE
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on EU action for sustainability PDF (506 KB) DOC (126 KB)
Amendments (40)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the 2030 Agenda and its sustainability goals; stresses that, although the EU farming industry is already making a valuabl the successive market-driven reforms of the CAP have contributioned to sustainability, through the Common Agricultural Policy and stringent environmental requirements, it still needs to adapt better to the many challenges facing itmore intensive production, thereby compromising these goals, and agri-environmental measures are very far from offsetting this trend;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Rejects the idea that more production and growth whatever the cost could be compatible with sustainable development or could serve the purpose of combating the problem of hunger and malnutrition in the world;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Urges the Commission to avoid defining the nutritional dimension of food production in simplistic terms, disregarding the fact that food and nutrition security means (continuing) access to a varied and wholesome diet, in terms of quality, quantity, and variety and must not be reduced purely to calorie intake;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1e. Notes that food security should be defined as a guarantee that families have regular and permanent physical and economic access to a basic set of foodstuffs in sufficient quantity and quality to meet their nutritional needs;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 g (new)
Paragraph 1 g (new)
1g. Recognises that the proper biological use of food, a process involving the digestion-absorption-metabolism- excretion chain that is necessary for full health and well-being, can be guaranteed only through access to basic public services (health, water and sanitation, housing and social security, among others);
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 h (new)
Paragraph 1 h (new)
1h. Draws attention to the fact that guaranteeing and complying with the right to food and nutrition and combating hunger are incompatible with the goal of maximising profits, the abuse of market power and pricing dominance, the occupation of land, poor working conditions and pesticide use;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 i (new)
Paragraph 1 i (new)
1i. Condemns the imposition by rich countries of agricultural models designed to further the interests of large agro- industry multinationals, as has been occurring with free-trade agreements;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Points out that the EU farming industry should provides jobs for millions of people in rural areas, guarantees food supplies and attracts people to rural areas as a place in which to live, work and relax;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Believes that adequate levels of public investment must be ensured so as to guarantee lasting, sustainable and inclusive solutions;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 d (new)
Paragraph 2 d (new)
2d. Stresses, in particular, women’s fundamental role as members of family farms, which constitute the main socioeconomic cell of rural areas, in caring for food production, preservation of traditional knowledge and skills, cultural identity and protection of the environment, bearing in mind that women in rural areas are also affected by wage and pension gaps;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 e (new)
Paragraph 2 e (new)
2e. Recalls that it is important to guarantee proper public services, notably care for children and the elderly, given that such services are particularly important for women, since they have traditionally played a major role in looking after young and elderly members of the family;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls for farming to be developed by focusing on family holdings, guaranteeing a fair income for farmers through public supply regulation mechanisms and exploiting the advantages of regional value chains;
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Believes that a sustainable future entails ending the subordination of agriculture and food production to the market and competitiveness;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Considers it necessary to put an end to the extreme bias that currently exists (introduced with a model geared to intensive agriculture based on the trade in farm inputs and seeds), which increases the discrimination suffered by local seed exchange schemes that are a key source and ensure access to these goods for rural communities, particularly for poor farmers;
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Rejects attempts of any kind to patent life, plants and animals, genetic material, or essential biological processes, especially where native strains and species are concerned;
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3d. Stresses that a sustainable future for farming and the environment means safeguarding and promoting access to seeds and agricultural inputs for smallholder farmers and marginalised groups, and promoting and safeguarding the exchange of seeds and their public ownership, and sustainable traditional techniques that guarantee the human right to proper food and nutrition;
Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 e (new)
Paragraph 3 e (new)
3e. Underlines the need to counter intensive export models, giving priority to regional and local production and consumption, promoting a different energy-related and environmental rationality, and giving preference to the ownership of land by local communities as an effective way of guaranteeing food quality and security;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 f (new)
Paragraph 3 f (new)
3f. Urges that action be taken to promote the effective use of traditional agricultural varieties specific to certain regions, combating the export-led standardisation of agricultural production and intensive models of agriculture that result from current agricultural and trade policies, of which the CAP is an example, and to encourage sustainable small and medium-scale production linked to local and regional markets and consumption;
Amendment 77 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses the significance of sustainable forest management in Europe based on collective solutions, particularly in countries which have predominantly small-scale ownership, which secures jobs, generates added value and makes a crucial contribution to the achievement of biodiversity, climate and environmental protection targets;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the inclusion of the SDGs in the Environmental Implementation Review; considers that the EU needs to identify areas where further action or implementation is needed and where sustainable development principles need to be further integrated and to take concrete steps to address these gaps; calls for a series of annual reports to Parliament on the EU’s progress in SDG implementation; asks that Parliament become a partner in the process, particularly in the second work stream post-2020; calls for annual dialogue and reporting between Parliament and the Commission resulting in the production of a report; urges that the results should be both transparent and easily understandable and communicable for a wide range of audiences;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Stresses that the EU's current mode of industrial agriculture will make it impossible for it to meet SDG 2 on sustainable agriculture and the SDGs on preventing pollution and overuse of water (6.3 & 6.4), improving soil quality (2.4 & 15.3) and halting biodiversity loss (15); research shows that intensive crop production has led to pollution of water, soil degradation and biodiversity loss;
Amendment 119 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Stresses the need to prevent measures that would have the effect of obstructing access to adequate nutrition and food, in particular measures that prevent people's access to and use of local resources and inputs that guarantee their survival;
Amendment 124 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Regards further progress in precision farming, digitalisation, plant and animal breeding and integrated pest management as essential, because increased efficiency will help to reduce the impact of farming on the environment; takes the view, likewise, that successfully implementing Agenda 2030 and achieving its sustainability goals entail a reorientation of the CAP, readjusting supply regulation instruments and safeguarding production rights, together with a substantial shift in the EU’s trade policy in relation to third countries.
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Stresses that Commission data shows that over 50% of EU cereals are used to feed animals; notes that the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has warned that further use of cereals as animal feed could threaten food security by reducing the grain available for human consumption; research shows that for every 100 calories of cereals fed to animals, just 17-30 calories enter the human food chain as meat and milk; FAO studies argue that livestock should be fed on materials that cannot be eaten by humans such as pasture, crop residues and unavoidable food waste;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses that according to the latest ‘Planetary boundaries’ report, biodiversity loss is the biggest challenge the planet is facing; recognises that intensive agriculture is a major contributor to biodiversity loss; calls on the EU and Member States in this respect to step up efforts to achieve their goals of halting biodiversity loss by 2020 and restoring at least 15 % of degraded ecosystems; the Environmental Impact Report of the European Environment Agency states that the high proportion of protected species (60%) and habitats (77%) that have an unfavourable conservation status is due in part to agricultural intensification;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Notes that research shows that intensive agriculture is a key driver of loss of soil organic carbon and soil biodiversity; calls on the EU to promote methods that build soil quality, such as rotations including legumes and livestock, thereby enabling the EU to meet SDGs 2.4 and 15.3;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Recognises that overuse of chemical pesticides undermines the SDGs on biodiversity and water pollution; notes that a 2017 report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food concludes that the assertion that pesticides are necessary to achieve food security is inaccurate and misleading;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recognises that many of the aims of the SDGs are at the heart of the 7th Environment Action Programme; welcomes the focus on biodiversity, natural resources and ecosystems, and the acknowledged link between these elements and human health; calls on the Commission to introduce an effective method of tracking biodiversity spending in the Union budget; in the light of the EU's current commitments to halting the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystems in Europe, the overall EU spending must have no negative impacts on biodiversity and should support the achievement of Europe's biodiversity targets;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Considers that the MFF should recognise the added value of the ecosystems and biodiversity of the European environment by allocating sufficient resources in the upcoming budgets to preserve this biodiversity;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Considers that MFF should provide an adequate budget and financing for the Natura 2000 network, in particular through the LIFE programme, which aims to promote the implementation of environment, energy and climate objectives and their integration into other policies and Member States practice;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Stresses that studies show that supply-side mitigation of livestock GHG emissions must be accompanied by reduced consumption of meat and dairy products if we are to meet the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Notes that SDG 12.8 requires governments to ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyle in harmony with nature; accordingly, urges the Commission and the Member States to develop programmes to increase public awareness of the implications of different livestock farming methods and consumption levels for human health, the environment, food security and climate change;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Paragraph 10 c (new)
10c. Recommends a full integration of climate action across the EU budget - climate action mainstreaming - ensuring that measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are integrated into all investment decisions in Europe;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 d (new)
Paragraph 10 d (new)
10d. Proposes a phase out of fossil fuel subsidies or spending on fossil fuel infrastructure; considers that cash that should be flowing into projects that boost environmental sustainability is instead fuelling outdated carbon-intensive projects like motorways, airports, and fossil-fuel infrastructure;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. (new) Calls on the EU not to fund industrial agriculture but instead to promote agro-ecology;
Amendment 210 #
The post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework is a crucial occasion to ensure the alignment of the EU budget with the 2030 Agenda, to phase out all environmentally harmful subsidies and shift public spending towards sustainable development for the benefit of prosperity for all. All expenditures, including the Common Agricultural Policy and structural funds, must deliver benefits to society as a whole and the environment;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Calls on the Commission to ensure that Union financial resources contain neither subsidies that are harmful to the climate or lock in fossil fuel infrastructure or support activities which damage ecosystems and biodiversity nor fossil fuel subsidies;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Underlines the role that the EU Urban Agenda will play in implementing the global ‘New Urban Agenda’; welcomes initiatives such as the Green Leaf Award and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, and further emphasises the crucial importance of cities and regions for delivering on the SDGs as sustainability requires collaborative and long term approaches from all levels of governance and all sectors;
Amendment 289 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Calls on the Commission to come forward in the framework of the upcoming mid-term review of the common agricultural policy with proposals to furtherwith proposals for a sustainable food and farming policy designed to ensure the attainment of SDGs on food security, nutrition, health, natural resources and climate change, as merely strengthening the CAP greening measures as well as to ensure the attainwill do far too little to enable to the EU to menet ofits SDG 2obligations;
Amendment 300 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Calls on the Commission to start a Fitness Check of the CAP as soon as possible on the basis of the five fitness check questions: EU value added, relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and policy coherence; considers that CAP financing must be aligned so as to contribute to Union environmental policy objectives namely air quality, water, biodiversity and climate policy goals;