Activities of Antoni COMÍN I OLIVERES related to 2020/2260(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Farm to Fork Strategy (debate)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on a Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food system
Amendments (25)
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Urges a shift away from industrial farming and trade- oriented agricultural policies and towards support for food sovereignty and local and regional market, food security, poverty reduction, local and regional markets, and inclusive and fair global supply chains; recalls that agroecology’s capacity to reconcile the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability has been widely recognised;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Welcomes the upcoming legislative proposal on an EU Code and monitoring framework for responsible business and marketing conduct in the food supply chain; believes that the Code should lay down robust due diligence standards for agri-food companies and should be accompanied by binding targets and measures to discourage non-compliance, such as administrative or economic sanctions, and ensure sustainable practices in the food value chain;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Insists that EU funding for agriculture must be in line with Agenda 2030 and prioritise investments in agroecology, agroforestry and crop diversification; highlights the need to finance and develop green business models that support better animal farming and promote short food supply chains within the EU rather than boosting subsidized export-oriented food products that cause harm to local producers in developing countries and exacerbate their dependence on foreign imports; stresses the importance of preserving agricultural biodiversity, local animal and plant breeds and local varieties;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Stresses that the Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy should contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals at European and global levels; calls on the Commission and Member States to establish an EU platform to monitor and assess the implementation of the EU F2F Strategy and ensure that multilateral mechanisms, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), incorporate all the elements of the F2F approach in their policy recommendations;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Calls on the European Commission to strengthen its approach to ensure the Right to Adequate Food, implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, improve the working conditions of farm workers and the income of small-scale farmers that are part of international food supply chains, and ensure that the precautionary principle is included for all food safety requirements in developing countries;
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. StressesNotes that the Farm to Fork lays out principles for a cleaner, pesticide-free EU agricultural sector with reduced reliance on fertiliser and decreased greenhouse-gas emissions; stresses, in this regard, that the EU-Mercosur Agreement is inconsistent with the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy, in particular its reduction of dependence on animal feed and industrial animal production, increasing organic farming, improving animal welfare, reversing biodiversity loss, and the shift to a more plant-based diet and shorter supply chains;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is gradually extended to food imports with lower standards for carbon footprints in products like meat, dairy and animal feed; believes that the CBAM should be used as a key tool to promote self-sufficient and sustainable food systems in developing countries;
Amendment 65 #
4 b. Highlights that EU trade policy should contribute to obtain ambitious commitments from third countries on animal welfare, the use of pesticides and the fight against antimicrobial resistance; calls on the Commission to ensure that all products imported to, and exported out of the EU by trade partners fully respect EU standards in the field of animal welfare, the use of pesticides and the fight against antimicrobial resistance; stresses that EU development cooperation must support local farmers and producers from developing countries to comply with relevant EU regulations and standards;
Amendment 68 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses that EU free trade agreements (FTAs) should not disrupt local agriculture, damage small producers or exacerbate dependency on food imports; calls into question international trade rules which allow dumping through the WTO green box; calls on the Commission to review international trade relations to make food systems sustainable and fair, and integrate environmental and social objectives in a comprehensive and holistic manner across all trade agreement provisions; welcomes the Commission’s commitment to compliance of EU trade agreements with the Paris Agreement, and calls for market access in FTAs to be conditional on compliance with process and production methods criteria; calls on the Commission to strengthen the enforcement mechanism of the trade and sustainable development (TSD) chapters and use it as a tool to foster a more diverse and sustainable food system, and to ensure that no provisions in the FTAs undermine the objectives and standards enshrined in the TSD chapters;
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Denounces the EU’s double standards on pesticides, which allow the export from the EU of hazardous substances banned in the EU; stresses that the EU legislation does not prohibit the export of pesticides banned in the EU to third countries, allowing companies to make profits by selling these chemicals to non-EU countries; points out that the EU should play a stronger role in supporting the establishment of the new UN mechanism to promote a phase-out of highly hazardous pesticides globally; calls on the Commission to stand firm in its commitment under the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability to ensure that hazardous pesticides banned in the European Union are not produced for export, and to ensure that no banned pesticides are allowed as residues in food placed on the European market;.
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 40 a (new)
Citation 40 a (new)
- having regard to the Directorate- General for Internal Policies report of December 2020 entitled “The link between biodiversity loss and the increasing spread of zoonotic diseases”,
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas Europe’s food system shouldmust deliver food and nutrition security in a way that contributes to improve social well- being and maintains and restores ecosystem health; whereas currently, the food system is responsible for a range of impacts on human and animal health and on the environment, the climate and biodiversity; whereas the way in which we produce and consume food needs to transform in order to ensure coherence with and achievement of the SDGs, the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity and EU policies, particularly in the areas of sustainability, the environment, climate, public health, animal welfare, food and economic sustainability for farmers;
Amendment 304 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the European model of a multifunctional agricultural and farming sector, driven by family farms, continues to ensure quality food production, local supply chains, good agriculture practices, compliance with high environmental standards and vibrant rural areas throughout the EU;
Amendment 392 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas in free-market economy systems food prices should reflect environmental costs apart from internalizing direct production costs; whereas EU tax systems should aim to ensure that the price of different foods reflects their real costs in terms of use of finite natural resources, pollution, GHG emissions and other environmental externalities;
Amendment 597 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the announcement of an impact-assessed proposal for a legislative framework for sustainable food systems; invites the Commission to use this proposal to set out a holistic common food policy aimed at reducing the environmental and climate footprint of the EU food system in order to make Europe the first climate- neutral continent by 2050 and strengthen its resilience to ensure food security in the face of climate change and biodiversity loss, leading a global transition towards sustainability from farm to fork, based on the principle of a multifunctional agricultural sector while ensuring consistency between policies by taking into account the existing legislation in order to enable all actors in the European food system to develop long-term plans based on realistic and transparent objectives; suggests that the respective base lines and progress achieved in each Member State be taken into account, while promoting the exchange of know-how and best practices between Member States; stresses the need to incluconsider the entire food and beverage chains including processing, marketing, distribution and retail and to tax food and beverage production under an emission reduction scheme to achieve climate neutral food in 2040;
Amendment 643 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Welcomes the announcement of tax incentives that drive the transition to a sustainable food system and encourage consumers to choose sustainable and healthy diets, like the Commission’s proposal on VAT rates (currently being discussed in the Council) that could allow Member States to make more targeted use of rates, for instance to support organic fruit and vegetables;
Amendment 943 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises the importance of recognising the significant impact of agriculture and especially animal production on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, biodiversity loss, freshwater and groundwater pollution/over- exploitation and land use; stresses the need to enhance natural carbon sinks and reduce agricultural emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, in particular in the feed and livestock sectors; calls for regulatory measures and targets to ensure progressive reductions in all GHG emissions in these sectors;
Amendment 1341 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Underlines that robust and reliablee need to strengthen legal frameworks for the fisheries and aquaculture sector should proviin order the basis foro ensure better protection measures with subsequent increases in fish populations and more clarity regarding the use of space and licenses in aquaculture, allowing for greater predictability for investments; stresses that good traceability mechanisms and high sustainability standards for all products sold on EU markets, included those imported from outside the EU, are essential to ensure transparency for consumers, the sector and the different administrations, and to achieve the targets of the Green Deal and the SDGs;
Amendment 1388 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Expresses its deep concern about the emergence of zoonotic diseases that are transferred from animals to humans (anthropozoonoses), such as COVID-19, Q fever, avian influenza and the new strain of influenza A (H1N1), which is exacerbated by the expansion of human activity, anthropogenic climate change, the destruction of biodiversity, environmental degradation and our current food production systems;
Amendment 1486 #
13. Urges the Commission to follow up on Directive (EU) 2019/633 on unfair trading practices22 and implement legal action beyond the EU code of conduct on responsible business and marketing practices by producing a monitoring framework for the food and retail sectors and providing for legal action if progress in integrating economic, environmental and social sustainability into corporate strategies is insufficient, and in so doing promoting and rewarding the efforts of sustainable agricultural producers while increasing the availability and affordability of healthy, sustainable food options and reducing the overall environmental footprint of the food system; stresses the importance of halting and addressing consolidation and concentration in the grocery retail sector in order to ensure fair prices for farmers while underlining the need to include and show environmental external costs in food prices; _________________ 22 OJ L 111, 25.4.2019, p. 59.
Amendment 1752 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Welcomes the fact that the strategy rightly recognises the role and influence of the food environment in shaping consumption patterns and the need to make it easier for consumers to choose healthy and sustainable diets; reiterates the importance of promoting sustainable diets by raising consumer awareness of the impacts of consumption patterns and providing information on diets that are better for human health and have a lower environmental footprint; underlines that food prices must send the right signal to consumers; welcomes, therefore, the strategy’s objective that the healthy, environmentally respectful and sustainable choice should become the most affordable one; urges the Commission to present legal or fiscal instruments by 2022 to translate this principle into practice, phasing out harmful subsidies to farming practices and food production systems not aligned under this principle;
Amendment 1887 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Highlights the recognition in the strategy that Europeans’ diets are not in line with recommendations for healthy eating, and that a population-wide shift in consumption patterns is needed towards more healthy and plant-based foods and less red and processed meat, sugars, salt, and fats, which will also benefit the environment; emphasises that EU-wide guidelines for sustainable and healthy diets would bring clarity to consumers on what constitutes a healthy and sustainable diet and inform Member States’ own efforts to integrate sustainability elements in national dietary advice; calls on the Commission to develop such guidelines and specific actions to effectively promote healthy plant-based diets and to promote stronger coordination between all public and private stakeholders, including local governments;
Amendment 1955 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Welcomes the EU Commission proposal for an Action Plan on organic farming to help Member States stimulate both supply and demand for organic products to reach the objective of at least 25% of the EU’s agricultural land under organic farming by 2030; urges the EU Commission to support Member States and the retail sector to sign agreements on increasing sales of organic food;
Amendment 1966 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Calls for a revision of public procurement legislation, including minimum mandatory criteria in schools and other public institutions to encourage organic and local food production and to promote more healthy diets by creating a food environment that enables consumers to make the healthy choice; emphasises that public procurement legislation should also include obligations for rewarding ‘true pricing’ of food, including external environmental costs, that give the right price signals to consumers making healthy, environmentally respectful sustainable food the most easy and affordable choice;
Amendment 2194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Recalls the global responsibility of European food systems and their key role in setting global standards for food safety, environmental protection and animal welfare; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that all food and feed products imported to the EU fully meet relevant EU regulations and standards and to provide development assistance to support primary producers from developing countries in meeting those standards; welcomes the Commission’s intention to take the environmental impacts of requested import tolerances into account; calls upon the EU Commission to adopt legislation for a carbon border adjustment mechanism not only for the ETS-sectors, but also for food imported to the EU from countries with lower standards for climate policies for the agricultural sector, lower standards for deforestation policies, or higher carbon footprints per kg, for products like meat, dairy and animal feed, compared to European equivalent products;