Activities of Claude GRUFFAT related to 2021/2239(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
EU action plan for organic agriculture (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on an EU action plan for organic agriculture
Amendments (39)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the Commission communication on an action plan for the development of organic production (organic action plan, OAP) emphasises that the Green Deal is, and the Farm to Fork strategy and biodiversity strategy under its umbrella, are the key to managing the transition towards a more sustainable food system;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas Europe’s food system should deliver, which is one of the main drivers of climate change and environmental degradation, should deliver healthy and sustainably produced food and ensure food security in a way that contributes to social well-being, maintainsprotects human and ecosystem health and ensures a fair living for farmers;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas organic agriculture offers many environmental benefits and has the potential to help the agricultural sector play its part in the fight against climate change and in addressing key challenges such as soil fertility and biodiversity loss; whereas organic farming notably prevents the emission of large volumes of greenhouse gas thanks to its banning of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, which is agriculture’s largest contribution to climate change 1a, as well as the obligation for organic farmers to introduce legumes in long crop rotations; _________________ 1a 1 Tian, H. et al (2020): A comprehensive quantification of global nitrous oxide sources and sinks. Nature 586 Sutton, M., Howard, C. et al. (Eds.) (2011): The European Nitrogen Assessment: Sources, Effects and Policy Perspectives. Cambridge University Press.
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas organic farming is an opportunity for farmers and young people wishing to enter the farming profession, as it is the form of farming that offers both the best economic and environmental performance, while having positive effects on employment and reducing the health and environmental costs of farming;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas it is essential to ensure that consumers, who place an increasing importance on the quality of what they eat, are in a position to make informed choices when purchasing food;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas in 2019, the EU’s total agricultural area under organic farming grew to 13.8 million hectares; whereas it currently accounts for 8.5 % of the EU’s total utilised agricultural area; whereas between 2010 and 2019 the value of the EU’s organic market has more than doubled; whereas the increase of organic production outpaces the development of the organic market in parts of the EU, while production of organic products is very low or inexistent in other parts;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas unhealthy diets cause 20% of food waste in the EU and 950,000 deaths per year, mostly due to cardiovascular diseases and cancers;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007, which will apply from 1st January 2022, is aiming notably for an increased consumers’ trust in organic products through more stringent controls and rules for imports;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the communication from the Commission on an action plan for the development of organic production, and the Commission’s recognition of organic farming as one of the important components on the EU’s path towards more sustainable food systems and the ambition of increasing the EU’s agricultural area under organic farming by 2030; while organic farming is the most developed form of environmentally- friendly agriculture, recognises, at the same time, the potential for other sustainable farming methods to contribute to the Green Deal’s objectives;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Underlines that the development and growth of the organic sector and organic surfaces, as foreseen in the Farm to Fork strategy, must be accompanied by market-driven and holistic supply chain developments, including processing, as well as measures to stimulate further demand for organic food and ensure consumer trust, in order to safeguard the future profitability of the organic market and organic farming in the EU;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Points out that for an EU action plan to succeed, it must stimulate and mobilise the Member States, as well as regional and local authorities; expresses the view, therefore, that Member States should be encouraged to develop their own national OAPs with concrete, time-bound actions and targets, with regional implementation when appropriate; highlights the need to exchange know- hows and best practices, as some member States have more experience in designing and implementing ambitious national plans; calls on the Commission to include such exchanges in the framework of the planned public follow-up meetings;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that Member States should engage all stakeholders, especially organic farmers and associations, local and regional authorities, consumer and private sector representatives and, the hospitality industry and food education associations, in a consultative process when adopting their national OAPs to achieve the best possible synergies;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Acknowledges that organic production often involves higher production costs and, therefore, needs higher market prices to recover those costs; points out that higher prices may represent a barrier to expansion but that they are necessary to ensure the continuation of organic farming and its further uptakeoffers a better valorisation of products thanks to higher market prices, which allows, with lower input costs, the recovering of higher production costs; points out that higher prices may represent a barrier to expansion but that they cover positive externalities that are not included in conventional products’ prices and that they are necessary to ensure the continuation of organic farming and its further uptake; notes that, as for conventional products, a better repartition of the value in the value chain would profit both farmers and consumers; therefore calls on the Commission to investigate solutions allowing exchanges on costs and value within the organic sector while avoiding price fixing, within the framework of Article 172b of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recognises the importance of speeding up the development of organic aquaculture in the EU, as well as strengthening consumers' demand and trust in these products;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Supports the Commission in further promoting and sharing information about the EU organic logo among consumers, including through organic school schemes; welcomes the earmarking of an increased budget towards the promotion of the organic logo, but notes that it is still not sufficient to support the target of 25% of the EU agricultural surfaces in organic by 2030, and should thus be increased in the coming years, with a clear priority towards promotion of the EU organic logo towards EU consumers; notes that school schemes should be the basis for a pedagogic discussion around nutrition and sustainable food and be accompanied by measures aimed at informing and educating children about better diets, rather than be a simple food distribution; calls on the Member States, to organise regular information and promotion campaigns for consumers, notably in canteens, on what organic farming is and its advantages, in particular regarding health and the environment, and on its benefits for farmers; emphasises that it is of paramount importance that consumer surveys on organics are followed by actions to further raise awareness of organic farming;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Welcomes the Commission's future initiatives aimed at better guiding consumers in their choice of food and helping them to change their consumption habits through the introduction of nutritional and environmental labelling, based on sound, independent and operational scientific foundations and complete and coherent methodologies, if they complement the European organic logo in a useful way;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Believes that increasing green public procurement (GPP) in the Member States can serve as a strong stimulus for action towards the organic target and support a healthier, more environmentally-friendly diet in schools, hospitals, retirement homes and jails; believes that the EU institutions should lead by example; calls on the Commission to research current structural and logistical barriers and to promote the use of GPP criteria in the Member States; to the use of local organic products in public procurement and to integrate these findings in future revision of the EU’s public procurement legislation; highlights that, in order to avoid organic public procurement benefits primarily imports, and in order to reach the EU climate targets, organic production and processing must be developed in an appropriate way at the regional and local levels, involving local organic farmers, and in coherence with the targeted objectives for public procurement; supports the establishment of regional sustainable food systems based on cooperation involving all food stakeholders in the territories; welcomes the Commission’s specific announcements regarding the promotion of organic products in canteens; regrets the lack of verified data about the uptake of organic products in public canteens and restaurants and calls on the Commission to create an observatory of organic public procurement, as well as a network of public actors involved in the introduction of organic products in their public canteens; highlights the need for dedicated support and advice on the ground for local or regional authorities wishing to increase the rate of organic products in canteens;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Points out that local and regional authorities play an important role in supporting territorialised food strategy, as well as the structuring of the organic sector in terms of production, collective processing, logistics and trade, facilitating the creation of organised cooperation between producers and consumers, raising awareness at local level and developing educational programmes for preschools and schools; highlights that these initiatives require strong support, advice and training, that should be backed up by funds from the CAP and the various structural funds;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Underlines that it is essential for the Commission, the Member States and stakeholders to engage actively in identifying ways in which the existing certification and control mechanisms can be made more robust to prevent fraud in organic production and trade, both in the EU and in non-EU countries, as well as to prevent additional administrative burdens and costs for farmers, including by using IT solutions; welcomes the switch to a compliance-based system for imported organic products;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Notes that the EU organic logo is often in competition with national logos offering similar promises but whose production standards and controls are less serious; highlights that it is imperative to avoid the, sometimes deliberate, confusion between these initiatives and organic farming that could lead to a decrease in confidence in organic products; notes that the EU organic regulation and frequent independent third party controls organic stakeholders are subjected to constitute the base for consumers’ trust in organic products; calls on Member States to deliver a clear communication on the EU organic logo and to support environmentally-friendly farming and food initiatives proportionally to their actual impact;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11b. Regrets the absence in the organic action plan of any references to the difficulties and heavy costs created for the sector by the necessity of putting in place suitable measures during cultivation, harvest, transport, storage and processing to keep non-authorised products e.g. GMOs out of the organic production chain;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)
Paragraph 11 c (new)
11c. Highlights the additional difficulties that would be created for the organic sector if the traceability and labelling requirement were to be weakened for organisms issued from gene editing techniques compared to transgenic organisms;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 d (new)
Paragraph 11 d (new)
11d. Calls on the Commission to seriously explore the difficult coexistence of organic production with conventional farmers using non-authorised products, e.g. pesticides or GMOs, and to integrate its findings in the building of its future draft proposal regarding new genetic engineering techniques; calls for contamination by pesticides and GMOs to be considered as covered by the polluter pays principle;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Considers that concrete action to promote exports of EU organic products is needed; rRequests that the Commission report regularly on forthcoming negotiations with the EU’s trading partners to inform Parliament about the potential forof the organic market; calls on the Commission to give priority to the fulfilment and expansion of the EU organic market;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Considers that an adequate common agricultural policy (CAP) budget should be provided to create incentives for farmers to convert to and maintain organic farming practices at national level, through rural development measures or newly introduced eco-schemes, or a combination of the two; calls on the Member States to support generational renewal in organic farmingwelcomes the Commission’s recommendation to the Member States to define national target percentages for increasing the organic surfaces and to design their CAP national strategic plans in order to respond to said targets; recalls the importance for keeping farmers in organic of support beyond the conversion phase; calls on the Commission to only approve CAP national strategic plans that are compatible with said national targets and with the Union 25% target, including by ensuring that environmentally-friendly farming and food initiatives are supported proportionally to their actual impact; calls on the Member states to make the best use of the tools at their disposal in order to support organic farming, including national aids under the de minimis rule; calls on the Member States to support generational renewal in organic farming, including by supporting the development of viable, self-sustaining small and medium-sized farms that are more easily transferable;
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Considers that organic farming is the cornerstone of the transition to a sustainable food system and that it should therefore be one of the priorities of the CAP, receiving a level of support more adequate to its real impact, as it meets society's expectations and offers future prospects for the agricultural world;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Notes the potential of short, local and seasonal food supply chains and direct marketing opportunities for organic producers and rural economies to deliver economic and environmental benefits by securing incomes and creating employment, while contributing to animal welfare, as well as environmental, biodiversity and climate protection; highlights that short, local and seasonal food supply chains constitute an important lever for sustainable development within the territories and for the re-location of food systems, while at the same time strengthening the resilience of our agricultural model and our food sovereignty;
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Welcomes the Commission’s support for the development of bio-districts within Member States, as they are multifunctional in nature and create synergies between farmers, consumers, the hospitality industry and cultural enterprises; notes that their success is dependent from a strong regional and territorial integration and the involvement of local authorities, and that they should be managed at local level;
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Notes that one of the main obstacle to the increase of organic surfaces is the difficulty for new farmers wishing to start producing in organic to access land; calls on the member states to give priority access to land to new organic farmers; moreover, calls on Member States to ensure that surfaces already converted to organic production are passed to organic farmers when the farmer retires, and to create or develop systems to accompany the transmission of organic farms;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Considers that the use of digital technologies, including precision farming and blockchain, can play a role in the development of organic farming; emphasizes that agricultural digitalization is not an end in itself and that public support to it should aim at tackling global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss, in particular in the case of organic farming; is concerned that organic farmers may need to buy data that concerns their own farms from the few big data platforms in the agricultural sector if they want access to it, which poses risks to the privacy, profitability and independence of farmers;
Amendment 263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Stresses the need for research and innovation to overcome restrictions in organic agriculture, such as the availability of organic protein feed, vitamins, alternative plant protection products, notably biocontrol solutions, fertilisers and genetic resources, the need to replace some problematic inputs both in farming and processing, and to encourage meeting societal expectations on animal welfare and efficient resource use; welcomes the Commission’s intention to earmark Horizon Europe funding in this respect; calls on the Commission to stimulate and foster cooperation between research communities working on organic and conventional food and farming, and participative research, notably through EIP AGRI;
Amendment 271 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Welcomes in particular that the organic action plan aims at finding concrete and operational ways to further improve animal welfare in organic production; calls on the Commission to come up with dedicated sub-actions and objectives on this issue; in particular, highlights the need for improvements regarding: the lay-out of buildings and exterior spaces receiving animals, feed composition and balance, optimal densities and group sizes, alternative to mutilations, and fulfilment of animals’ behavioural needs; calls on the Commission to increase its support for research, notably participative research, capacity building and exchanges of best practices in these domains;
Amendment 280 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18b. Highlights the urgent need for the development of the production of organic plant proteins and to stimulate the production of organic legumes, including in forage systems, in the European Union, in order to decrease the dependency of the organic sector to imports; urges the Commission to draw up a dedicated strategic plan in this regard;
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Highlights the importance of sufficiently available, high-quality organic seeds, heterogeneous material and high- yielding plant varieties; points out their potential in strengthening resilience against plant diseases and the impact of climate change; encourages the Commission and the Member States to step up efforts to improve the functioning of the organic seed market and believes that transitional periods would be helpful in achieving this; calls on the Commission to increase the budgets allocated to the research for organic seed and animal breeding; highlights the importance of supporting programmes for the preservation and selection of local breeds, which, given their robustness, are particularly suited to organic farming;
Amendment 291 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. In order to facilitate the application of the Water Framework Directive and its objective of ensuring sufficient supply of drinking water and to preserve human health and the environment, considers that agricultural areas located in catchment areas of the river basin management plans of the Member States should be eligible, for support from the ecoregime of the new CAP, in order to develop organic farming and to protect these sensitive areas, from pollution by pesticides and their metabolites and synthetic fertilisers and in particular nitrogen fertilisers;
Amendment 297 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 b (new)
Paragraph 19 b (new)
19b. Highlights that the social dimension should not be forgotten when it comes to organic farming and food production; emphasises the importance of protecting the individual and collective labour and social rights of farm labourers and workers, including seasonal and mobile workers employed along the EU organic food supply chain; calls on the Commission to also address the issue of gender inequality in policies aiming at developing organic food and farming in the European Union;
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 c (new)
Paragraph 19 c (new)
19c. Emphasises that a key driver to stimulate demand for organic products is to ensure they are as attractive to consumers as conventional products notably in terms of taste, nutrition and convenience; highlights that organic ingredients with natural nutritional properties are nature-based solutions, essential to organic food production and should be promoted as alternatives to additive substances; calls therefore for legal certainty over the use of such organic ingredients, in line with the objective of the Farm to Fork Strategy to “make sure that everyone has access to sufficient, nutritious, sustainable food (…) while meeting dietary needs and food preferences”;
Amendment 299 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Supports the Commission’s intention to extend the EU Market Observatories’ analysis to organic products, also in order to allow the mobilisation of the regulatory tools available in the event of market imbalances and crises; stresses the importance of intensifying collection and improving availability of accurate and timely data on the organic sector, particularly on production, consumptionprocessing, consumption, hospitality, trade within the EU and with non-EU countries and delivery on sustainability, including farm gate and retail prices, consumer preferences, supply chain structures, added value and farmers’ share in supply chains, in order to shape and monitor EU policy on organic production, evaluate consumption and production trends and increase transparency and confidence in the organic sector through determining environmental, economic and social effects;