Activities of Stéphane BIJOUX related to 2022/2183(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Ensuring food security and the long-term resilience of EU agriculture (debate)
Opinions (1)
OPINION on the objective of ensuring food security and the long-term resilience of EU agriculture
Amendments (52)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. having regard to Article 208 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which states, in part, that the Union must take account of the objectives of development cooperation in the policies that it implements which are likely to affect developing countries,
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Reaffirms the right to food as a fundamental human right; and recalls Sustainable Development Goal 2 of eradicating hunger by 2030; stresses the need for the EU to champion the right to adequate food as a priority of food systems in order to achieve food security and improve nutrition; Is deeply concerned by the fact that one in three people worldwide still do not have access to adequate, sufficient food and healthy nutrition and that 2.3 billion people in the world were moderately or severely food insecure in 2021, further notes that many of these people are employed in agriculture; deplores the fact that in 2022, according to the World Food Programme, acute food insecurity is affecting a record 349 million people; Regrets that hunger and food insecurity are increasing across the world and that many countries are significantly off track to achieve the zero hunger target in 2030; recalls that malnutrition represents a lifelong burden for individuals and societies as it prevents children from reaching their full potential, thus curtailing human and national economic development;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the impact of climate change, the COVID-19 crisis and conflicts on food security in developing countries; draws attention to the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which are exacerbating global food insecurity; at the global food crisis the world is facing today is not a new crisis but an additional layer linked to global population growth, climate change, and especially weather extremes, environmental degradation, conflicts and notably Russia’s armed aggression on Ukraine, the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic uncertainty; highlights that this global food crisis is also exacerbated by the current food price spike and the remaining weaknesses of global food systems, notably related to persistent dependencies related to food imports, inequalities and lack of social safety nets in certain partner countries; Urges the EU to acknowledge that climate change, biodiversity, food security and health are interlinked and have to be addressed together, taking into account the ‘One Health’ approach; recalls that food systems are contributing to up to one-third of greenhouse gas emissions and use up to 70% of freshwater; Calls on the Commission to support local farmers in defining and implementing measures to forestall extreme climate events and natural disasters; calls also on the Commission to support the introduction of mechanisms, programmes and networks for measuring, monitoring, evaluating and sharing best practices between partner countries in the adaptation of agriculture to climate change and its impact on food security; Draws attention to the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on food prices, global supply of grains, as well as on the price of energy and fertilisers, emphasises that countries already facing difficulties are being hit hardest by those consequences, which are exacerbating global food insecurity; emphasises the importance of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and calls on Russia to stop using food security as a weapon of war, to respect the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain and to lift the naval blockades of Ukrainian ports; welcomes the introduction of Solidarity Lanes to allow for agricultural products blocked in Ukraine to be exported, commends the Union on its commitment to mobilise over EUR 1 billion for those lanes and to provide Ukraine with support to export its agri-food products, taking into account Ukraine’s key role in global grain supply; stresses the importance of building conflict resilient food and agricultural systems and the need to ensure that food reaches the most vulnerable, and calls on the Commission to support such efforts;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1a. having regard to the joint statement by the Council and the representatives of the governments of the Member States meeting within the Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission of 30 June 2017 on ‘The new European consensus on development’,
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Is concerned by the fact that one in three people worldwide still do not have access to adequate food; deplores the fact that in 2022, according to the World Food PRecalls that the SDG 2 cannot be achieved without strengthening women’s rights and recognises the potential critical role played by women farmers in ensuring food security; Notes that according to the FAO women make up 43% of the global agricultural labour force, and yet face significant discrimination when it comes to land and livestock ownership, equal pay, participation in decision-making entities and access to credit and financial services; Stresses that it is children and women who are the most vulnerable to food insecurity, stresses that the gender gap in food insecurity globally has widened in recent years, notably due to prevalent gender inequality and discrimination in the countries concerned; points out that ensuring food security is one way of reducing inequalities between women and men; Calls on the Commission and local and regional authorities in partner countries to ensure that women, including women’s organisations, are involved in defining programme,s acute food insecurity is affecting a record 349 million people; stresses that it is children and women who are the most vulnerable to food insecurity; nd implementing projects as well as in the decision-making processes to combat food insecurity; also calls on the Commission to support the advancement of women farmers and to promote women’s access to legal status including through birth registration and inheritance rights for property and access to land; Highlights that addressing food insecurity also requires partner countries to take action to reduce inequalities, including through taxation and social protection schemes, so as to ensure all people can access affordable and healthy food; also emphasises that the creation of viable jobs in agriculture is central to ensure the long-term viability of this sector globally; Recalls that food security requires physical and affordable access to water and that access to high-quality water starts with the production and ends on the consumers' plate, therefore calls on the Commission to increase its support for WASH services to ensure access to water and sanitation in developing countries;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Is concerned by continuing rise in food prices; recalls that the World Food Price Index increased by more than 60% between 2020 and 2022; and the disruption of the global food market, that the invasion of Ukraine aggravated, in a context where both Russia and Ukraine are major food exporters; recalls that the World Food Price Index increased by more than 60% between 2020 and 2022; stresses that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in rising prices and reducing availability of agricultural products, fertilisers and energy; highlights that countries that were highly dependent on grain and oil imports from the Black Sea region were the first to suffer the effects of the crisis; Underlines the high dependence of developing countries on food imports and that a high dependency on food imports highly exposes populations to global market volatilities; Stresses that the Commission should develop a genuine integrated strategy with its partner countries to encourage the development, strengthening and scaling up of local food production capacities, reduce the vulnerabilities associated with international dependencies, especially on fertilisers and grains, while strengthening local and regional markets through infrastructure programmes, such as market infrastructure, cooling systems and roads, but also online farmers markets to enhance in particular smallholder farmers’ resilience, notably with the Global Gateway Initiative; Deplores the financial speculation on agricultural and food commodities, which is exacerbating price volatility and inflating wholesale prices; notes with concern that financial speculation on food commodities particularly affects developing countries and the most vulnerable populations, particularly in a context of war; In this context, calls on the Commission and Member States, also in collaboration with the relevant international organisations, to urgently put forward proposals to better regulate food prices at European and global level, aiming to stop financial speculation on agricultural and food commodities; notes that the ongoing review of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFiD) is an opportunity to tackle food financial speculation; Calls on the Commission and European Securities and Markets Authority to evaluate the role and extent of speculation in the determination of commodities prices; underlines that transparent statistics on grain stocks from both public and private stakeholders are essential; calls on the Commission, Member States and food business operators to intensify their efforts to strengthen transparency rules on global agricultural prices and stocks, particularly by strengthening and extending the Agricultural Market Information System; Points out that developing countries are the most vulnerable to rising global food and agricultural prices, which threaten the affordability of food; calls on the Commission and Member States to work on the FAO proposal aimed at establishing a Food Import Financing Facility to help low-income countries that are the most dependent on food imports to access global food markets; also stresses the need to work on trade rules, including in the remit of WTO, with the objective to help low-income countries in building stronger local food systems; Stresses that food dependency aggravates indebtedness of developing countries, thereby jeopardising the achievement of food security; calls on the Commission and the Member States to evaluate all the means available to avoid any default in the balance of payments of food importer countries, including debt relief under the auspices of international initiatives, direct funding and restructuring of their debt; reiterates the importance of grant-based financing especially for Least Developed Countries;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 c (new)
Paragraph -1 c (new)
-1c. having regard to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls the importance of ensuring coherence among all EU policies in order to guarantee the effectiveness of the EU’s commitment to global food security; principle of Policy Coherence for Development enshrined in Article 208 TFEU, according to which ‘the Union shall take account of the objectives of development cooperation in the policies that it implements which are likely to affect developing countries’ and the importance of ensuring coherence among all EU policies in order to guarantee the effectiveness of development cooperation to the benefit of developing countries and to increase the effectiveness of the EU’s commitment to global food security; insists that ensuring Policy Coherence for Development in the field of food security is important to contribute to safeguarding basic human rights and preventing humanitarian crises; Calls on the Commission to adopt a more systematic approach in defining and assessing the impact of EU policies in relation to the Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) objectives as anchored in the European Consensus on Development; calls on the EU to minimise the possible contradictions and build synergies with development cooperation policy, and to assess on a regular basis the compliance of EU policies, such as the CAP and trade policy, with Policy Coherence for Development, in particular by using the monitoring indicators of SDG 2; Recalls that biodiversity and its associated ecosystem services are essential to provide sustainable food production and to harness food security in developing countries; urges the EU and its Member States to remain fully committed to their international engagements on climate and biodiversity; stresses that EU trade, investment policies and development cooperation towards developing countries should follow the ambitions of the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy, notably in favouring the preservation of biodiversity and forests; in this respect calls for the prompt implementation of the regulation aimed at prohibiting the importation on the Union’s market of products associated with deforestation; Stresses that biofuel production should not jeopardise food security, particularly in developing countries; calls on the EU and its Member States to ensure food production is prioritised over crop-based biofuel production, especially in a context of inflation of food prices;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Stresses the importance of ensuring that Free Trade Agreements contribute to the objectives and standards enshrined in the TSD chapters to guarantee high environmental, social and health standards in line with the Farm to Fork Strategy, the Biodiversity Strategy and the legislative package “Fit for 55” notably the proposal for a new Regulation on the Sustainable use of Plant protection products and the targets included to reduce the use of hazardous pesticides; also stresses the importance of supporting developing countries in achieving higher standards, notably through technical support provided under the NDICI-Global Europe instrument; Denounces the EU’s double standards on pesticides, which allow the export from the EU of hazardous substances which are themselves banned in the EU; calls on the Commission to ensure reciprocity in international trade agreements particularly in relation to agriculture and agricultural products and to lead by example by ensuring that hazardous pesticides banned in the EU are not exported to partner countries, preventing residues of banned pesticides from being tolerated in food on the EU market and strengthening the enforcement mechanism of the trade and sustainable development (TSD) chapters;
Amendment 7 #
144, 151, 154, 155, 156, 161, 163, 173B, 174 Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the commitment by the EU and its Member States to allocate nearly EUR 7.78 billion in humanitarian aid and development aid for global food security over the period 2021-2024; stresses, however, the need for European aid to reach the most vulnerable populations as quickly as possible and to adapt to the context of multidimensional crises; , including a further EUR 600 million to help the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries deal with the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; calls on the Commission to report to the European Parliament, every year until 2024, on the goals, measures and results of that commitment; Stresses the need for European aid to reach the most vulnerable populations as quickly as possible and to adapt to the context of multidimensional crises, and the importance of a reinforced humanitarian approach; underlines the fact that, in 2022, the Commission has already allocated over EUR 900 million to humanitarian food assistance, i.e. 60% more than in 2021 and nearly 80% more than in 2020; Calls on the European Union and its Member States to increase development cooperation, humanitarian aid, food assistance and scale up essential nutrition services in the most vulnerable countries and regions, particularly the 19 ‘hunger hotspots’ identified by FAO and WFP which continue to suffer from a lack of humanitarian financing; Calls on the EU to ensure continuity between humanitarian aid, development cooperation and peace actions in order to tackle the deep-rooted causes of food insecurity and address the weaknesses of food systems in developing countries, in line with the nexus approach; Calls on the Commission, Member States and European development financing institutions to create synergies between the NDICI – Global Europe instrument and the new Global Gateway strategy, using the Team Europe approach, in order to coordinate investments in food security in partner countries; Calls on the European Commission and the Member States to increase climate- funding to developing countries and enhance cooperation with other multilateral development banks to facilitate climate adaption; points out that adaptation to climate change is essential to ensure resilient sustainable food systems in partner countries; Calls on the European Commission to ensure that a significant proportion of the 30% envelope of the NDICI – Global Europe funds assigned to combatting climate change is allocated to projects which improve resilience and adaptation of agriculture to climate change, including through hillside stabilisation, land reclamation, reforestation, irrigation, watershed management and support to education efforts around this issue; insists that those investments shall be in line with Agenda 2030, the Paris Climate Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity and take into account the FAO/CFS Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the context of national food security (VGGTs) and the FAO/CFS Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems; Urges the European Commission, in the mid-term review process of the NDICI – Global Europe instrument, to closely examine the amounts and projects associated with food security in partner countries and to fully assess the effectiveness of the measures supported; points out that the mid-term review report should be published by the end of 2023; Welcomes the launch of several multilateral food security initiatives; calls, however, on the European Commission and Member States to play a leading role in coordinating the various initiatives to ensure an effective international commitment to global food security; calls on the EU and its Member States to support the establishment of an international food crisis preparedness and response mechanism, under the aegis of FAO and WFP, with the aim of identifying risks and vulnerabilities, particularly in critical food infrastructure and supply chains, and improving coordination of responses in the event of a crisis; furthermore supports the development of strategic food reserves, given the role that stocks can play in buffering the impacts of food crises; calls for the role of the Global Network Against Food Crises to be strengthened;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 d (new)
Paragraph -1 d (new)
-1d. having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/947 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 June 2021 establishing the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe,
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. CRecalls the need to increase food security in developing countries and enhance their capacity to meet the nutritional requirements of their populations; in that sense calls on the EU to also support local, regional and country initiatives in developing countries for food sovereignty; calls on the EU and its Member States, in particular through Team Europe, to help to build solutions with local actors, particularly local and regional authorities and NGOs, and to support initiatives tailored to local and regional realities in order to accompany partner countries towards food autonomy, through the development of local agricultural production capacities and the transition to sustainable and resilient agri-food systems. security and sovereignty, through the development of local and regional agricultural production capacities and the transition to ecologically sustainable and resilient agri- food and fisheries systems; calls on the EU to encourage solution-sharing between countries, particularly in small island developing states in the Indian Ocean, Caribbean and Pacific where climate change is a key factor in food insecurity; Stresses the importance of supporting local projects that encourage the transition to low-carbon agriculture and sustainable fisheries, simultaneously benefitting food security, environmental protection and the fight against climate change in partner countries; underlines that sustainable agriculture based on agroecological farming practices as defined in the UN Report A/HRC/46/33 contributes to food security and biodiversity; encourages the EU to prioritise in its external assistance to agriculture investments in agroecology, agroforestry and crop diversification; Recognises the crucial role played by small and medium scale farmers in ensuring food security as highlighted in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas; stresses there has been long- standing underinvestment in small-scale farming, including from donors; recalls that investments in the smallholder sector yield the best returns in terms of poverty reduction and growth, enhancing incomes of smallholder farmers, especially women smallholders; Therefore, calls on the EU, the Member States and the European banks for development to co-operate with small- scale farmers in developing countries to support them in shifting to sustainable farming practices, notably by promoting knowledge transfer and best practices through local farming organisations and co-operatives, boosting access to education and training, improving their access to credit, insurance, food market information and finance for research and innovation; also stresses the need to support small-scale farmers through programmes focused on climate-resilient agriculture respecting biodiversity and aiming to identify crops that are better adapted to local weather conditions, such as shift to more traditional crops, to promote the transition to agricultural infrastructure, inputs and irrigation systems that are less energy-intensive and consume less water and to support the financing of storage solutions in order to prevent farmers from harvest as well as post-harvest loss and to reduce food waste; In the light of the UN Report A/HRC/49/43 by the Special rapporteur on the right to food Michael Fakhri, points out that the right to food is inherently tied to farmers’ seed systems and their indivisible right to freely save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seeds; and calls on Team Europe to support programmes that take the needs of farmers’ seeds systems or informal seed systems into account and support seed banks or seed libraries that allow collecting, conserving and sharing of native seeds, landraces and farmers’ varieties with farmers and gardeners; Stresses the importance of the protection and promotion of the right to food security for local communities; deplores, in this context, the fact that land grabbing is rife in many countries, which undermines food sovereignty; calls on the EU to strongly support the prevention of land grabbing and stresses the importance of launching an inclusive process with the aim of guaranteeing the effective participation of civil society organisations and local communities in the development, implementation and monitoring of policies and actions related to land grabbing; calls for the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT) to be observed in all projects that promote the protection of land rights, including in trade, and also for measures to ensure that projects do not endanger the land rights of small-scale farmers;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 e (new)
Paragraph -1 e (new)
-1e. having regard to the report entitled ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2022’, the report entitled ‘Hunger Hotspots – FAO/WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity – October 2022 to January 2023 Outlook’ and the information note entitled ‘The importance of Ukraine and the Russian Federation for global agricultural markets and the risks associated with the current conflict’ of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP),
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1 a. whereas developing countries are susceptible to food insecurity particularly when depending on food imports; whereas recent crises have shown that global supply chains can be seriously disrupted; whereas food import dependencies have also arisen from changing dietary patterns, and notably a shift towards a handful of staple crops, i.e. wheat, rice and maize; whereas, according to the FAO, at the beginning of 2022, Ukraine and Russia accounted for nearly 30% of global wheat and maize exports, while Russia was the world’s top exporter of fertilisers, and whereas more than 30 countries, mainly in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, depend on Ukraine and Russia for over 30% of their wheat import needs; whereas Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is exacerbating this global food insecurity and could lead to a further 8 to 13 million people becoming food insecure, according to FAO simulations; whereas this dependency on food imports also makes a number of countries, notably in Africa, highly vulnerable to price shocks; whereas according to the FAO, Food Price Index hit high record in February 2022; whereas most food import dependent countries were already highly indebted before the Covid-19 pandemic; whereas the G7 Agriculture Ministers’ statement of 11 March 2022 declared that G7 Members commit to ‘fight against any speculative behaviour that endangers food security or access to food for vulnerable countries or populations’;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 b (new)
Paragraph -1 b (new)
-1b. having regard to the report of the Committee on Development (DEVE) on Policy Coherence for Development (2021/2164(INI)),
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 b (new)
Paragraph -1 b (new)
-1 b. whereas the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy, whose targets aim to reduce the use of farm inputs and notably to decrease the overall use of chemical pesticides in the EU by 2030, address global climate and environmental challenges; whereas biodiversity and resilient ecosystems are essential to sustainable development; whereas agroecological principles are in line with biodiversity conservation, food autonomy and healthy nutrition; whereas biodiversity of crops is important as this allows individual farmers to adapt their agricultural planning to climate conditions and make food systems naturally more resilient against climate change, pests and pathogens; whereas at the same time this nature-based approach contributes to enhancing biodiversity; whereas EU support for sustainable food systems is one of the priorities of the multi-annual indicative programmes adopted with around 70 partner countries under the NDICI – Global Europe instrument for the 2021-2027 period;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. whereas, according to the United Nations Committee on World Food Security, a person is considered ‘food secure’ when they have the physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. whereas, according to FAO, there are four dimensions of food security: food access, food availability, food safety and quality, and stability of food prices over time;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. whereas, according to FAO, in 2021 hunger affected 425 million people in Asia, 278 million in Africa and 56.5 million in Latin America and the Caribbean, with Africa being the region where the prevalence of undernourishment is highest;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1e. whereas Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is exacerbating global food insecurity, and whereas FAO simulations suggest that the consequences of the conflict could lead to a further 8 to 13 million people around the world becoming food insecure, and more if the war persists;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 f (new)
Paragraph 1 f (new)
1f. whereas, according to FAO, at the beginning of 2022, Ukraine and Russia accounted for nearly 30% of global wheat and maize exports, while Russia was the world’s top exporter of fertilisers;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 g (new)
Paragraph 1 g (new)
1g. whereas, according to FAO, more than 30 countries, mainly in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, depend on Ukraine and Russia for over 30% of their wheat import needs;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 h (new)
Paragraph 1 h (new)
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 i (new)
Paragraph 1 i (new)
1i. whereas EU support for sustainable food systems is one of the priorities of the multi-annual indicative programmes adopted with around 70 partner countries under the NDICI – Global Europe instrument for the 2021- 2027 period;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 (new)
points out that climate change is a key factor in food insecurity, particularly in small island developing states in the Indian Ocean, Caribbean and Pacific, which are also being affected by the consequences of the war in Ukraine;
Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls on Russia to stop using food security as a weapon of war, to respect the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain, known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, and to lift the naval blockades of Ukrainian ports so that global supplies of grain and other agricultural products can flow freely;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Welcomes the EU’s introduction of solidarity lanes, which have so far enabled more than 15 million tonnes of agricultural products blocked in Ukraine to be exported, and commends the Union on its commitment to mobilise over EUR 1 billion for those lanes;
Amendment 94 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4d. Deplores the financial speculation in agricultural and food products, which is exacerbating price volatility, particularly in a context of war; calls on the Commission, Member States and food business operators to intensify their efforts to strengthen transparency rules on global agricultural prices and stocks, particularly by strengthening and extending the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) introduced by the G20;
Amendment 99 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in rising prices and reduced availability of agricultural products, fertilisers and energy; notes, in particular, that fertiliser shortages are having direct effects on agricultural yields and reducing food availability;
Amendment 100 #
4b. Notes the Commission communication of 9 November 2022 entitled ‘Ensuring availability and affordability of fertilisers’, particularly its international dimension; stresses, however, that the Commission should develop a genuine integrated strategy with its partner countries to encourage the development of local production capacity and reduce the vulnerabilities associated with international dependencies, especially on fertilisers and grains;
Amendment 102 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Points out that developing countries, particularly low-income countries, are the most vulnerable to rising global food and agricultural prices, which threaten the affordability of food and increase the debt burden; calls on the Commission and Member States to work on the FAO proposal aimed at establishing a Food Import Financing Facility to help those low-income countries that are the most dependent on food imports to access global food markets;
Amendment 110 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls the objective of policy coherence for development, in accordance with Article 208 TFEU, and the importance of ensuring coherence among all EU policies in order to guarantee the effectiveness of the EU’s commitment to global food security;
Amendment 114 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls on the Commission to adopt a more systematic approach to defining and assessing the impact of EU policies in relation to the Policy Coherence for Development objectives; calls on the Commission, in particular, to assess the impact of EU policies by using the monitoring indicators of Sustainable Development Goal 2 to eradicate hunger by 2030;
Amendment 124 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Stresses the importance of ensuring reciprocity in international trade, and calls on the Commission to speed up the adoption of mirror clauses in trade negotiations and trade agreements signed by the EU, particularly in relation to agriculture and agricultural products; underlines the fact that reciprocity guarantees high environmental, social and health standards in developing countries and prevents double standards;
Amendment 126 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Welcomes the interinstitutional agreement reached on the proposal for a regulation aimed at prohibiting the making available on the Union market of imported products associated with deforestation, and calls for the prompt implementation of the regulation;
Amendment 131 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5d. Stresses that biofuel production should not jeopardise food security, particularly in developing countries; notes, however, that biofuel production can be useful when implementing agro- ecological and energy transitions;
Amendment 135 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the commitment by the EU and its Member States to allocate nearly EUR 7.78 billion in humanitarian aid and development aid for global food security over the period 2021-2024, including a further EUR 600 million to help the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries deal with the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; stresses, however, the need for European aid to reach the most vulnerable populations as quickly as possible and to adapt to the context of multidimensional crises; calls on the Commission to report to the European Parliament, every year until 2024, on the goals, measures and results of that commitment;
Amendment 141 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Underlines the fact that, in 2022, the Commission has already allocated over EUR 900 million to humanitarian food assistance, i.e. 60% more than in 2021 and nearly 80% more than in 2020; calls on the European Union and its Member States to increase their humanitarian support in the most vulnerable countries and regions, particularly the 19 ‘hunger hotspots’ identified by FAO and WFP which continue to suffer from a lack of humanitarian financing;
Amendment 142 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Calls on the European Union to ensure continuity between humanitarian aid and measures supported by development aid in order to tackle the deep-rooted causes of food insecurity in developing countries;
Amendment 143 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Calls on the European Commission to ensure that a significant proportion of the 30% envelope of the NDICI – Global Europe funds assigned to combatting climate change is allocated to projects which improve resilience to climate disasters and adaptation of agriculture to climate change;
Amendment 151 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 e (new)
Paragraph 6 e (new)
6e. Calls on the Commission, Member States and European development financing institutions to create synergies between the NDICI – Global Europe instrument and the new Global Gateway strategy, using the Team Europe approach, in order to coordinate investments in food security in partner countries;
Amendment 154 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 d (new)
Paragraph 6 d (new)
6d. Urges the European Commission, in the mid-term review process of the NDICI – Global Europe instrument, to closely examine the amounts and projects associated with food security in partner countries and to fully assess the effectiveness of the measures supported; points out that the mid-term review report should be published by the end of 2023;
Amendment 155 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 f (new)
Paragraph 6 f (new)
6f. Welcomes the launch of several multilateral food security initiatives, such as the Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission (FARM) launched on 24 March 2022; calls, however, on the European Commission and Member States to play a leading role in coordinating the various initiatives to ensure an effective international commitment to global food security;
Amendment 156 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 g (new)
Paragraph 6 g (new)
6g. Calls on the European Union and its Member States to support the establishment of an international food crisis preparedness and response mechanism, under the aegis of FAO and WFP, with the aim of identifying risks and vulnerabilities, particularly in critical food infrastructure and supply chains, and improving coordination of responses in the event of a crisis; calls also for the role of the Global Network Against Food Crises to be strengthened;
Amendment 170 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Calls on the Commission and local and regional authorities in partner countries to ensure that women are involved in defining programmes and implementing projects to combat food insecurity; points out that ensuring food security is one way of reducing inequalities between women and men; notes that food security measures in developing countries should also respect the rights of indigenous peoples;
Amendment 175 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Calls on the European Union to support small-scale agriculture and farmers in developing countries, particularly with the agro-ecological transition; stresses the need, in particular, to help them access finance for research and innovation in the transition to more sustainable agricultural practices, the adaptation of crops to local weather conditions, the reduced use of energy- intensive inputs, and the use of digital technologies for agriculture;
Amendment 176 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 d (new)
Paragraph 7 d (new)
7d. Stresses the importance of supporting local projects that encourage the transition to low-carbon agriculture, simultaneously benefitting food security, environmental protection and the fight against climate change in partner countries; calls on the European Union to use its partnerships to encourage solution-sharing between countries;
Amendment 177 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 e (new)
Paragraph 7 e (new)
7e. Calls on the Commission to increase its support for WASH services to ensure access to water and sanitation in developing countries; stresses also the need to support local agricultural projects that encourage a transition to crops and agricultural infrastructure which consume less water;
Amendment 178 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 f (new)
Paragraph 7 f (new)
7f. Calls on the European Commission to support local actors, particularly farmers, in defining and implementing measures to forestall extreme climate events and natural disasters, especially in the most vulnerable areas; calls also on the Commission to support the introduction of programmes and networks for monitoring, highlighting and sharing best practices in the adaptation of agriculture to climate change between partner countries;
Amendment 179 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on the European Commission and Member States to increase the involvement of local actors, particularly local and regional authorities and NGOs, by using the Team Europe approach;