38 Amendments of Jean-Lin LACAPELLE related to 2020/2260(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital A (new)
Recital A (new)
A (new) whereas in 2019, the value of total trade of agricultural goods between the EU and the rest of the world was €325 billion with a trade surplus of €39billion;1a _________________ 1ahttps://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics- explained/index.php?title=Extra- EU_trade_in_agricultural_goods#EU_tra de_in_agricultural_products:_surplus_of _.E2.82.AC39_billion
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that EU trade policy has a major role to play in the transition towards more sustainable agri-food systems, in line with the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal; without putting at risk the competitiveness of the European production; EU trade policy should be designed to provide the consumer with the best products putting European farmers and producers at the core; highlights that domestic related policies and trade should never encourage practices that lead to a significant increase of imports from third countries which might have less ambitious social, environmental and SPS standards;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the fact that the aim of the Farm to Fork Strategy is to establish a local, sustainable, healthy and resilient food system which benefits consumers in the EU;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Considers that promoting healthy and sustainable food consumption calls for changesinvolves paying attention to diets, production systems and, internal trade and promoting public food education campaigns starting from primary schools;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that the EU internal market is the world’s biggest importer and exporter of agri-food products; is convinced that the EU should use this position to set the benchmark in terms of standards for sustainable food systems, based on the precautionary principle, environmental protection, , respect of human rights and animal welfare;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Notes that quality food, fair profits for producers, fair prices for consumers, food sovereignty, environmental protection and high standards of animal welfare are key objectives for a balanced consumption policy;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Deplores that the new initiative proposed does not take into account the impact of the Covid-19crisis and the consequent food insecurity in the European market; in this regard, stresses with big concern that the Covid-19 crisis is expected to significantly increase the EU population unable to afford a healthy and nutritious meal;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Stresses that the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to shorten the EU food supply chain and to make it less dependent on imports from third countries, thus increasing the EU’s resilience in order to meet the needs of consumers and to secure the food production and the stocks;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Underlines that local production is - and will always be - more sustainable than global food production as it meets the immediate needs of consumers, reduces food waste, and can have a lesser impact on the environment by reducing transport related GHG emissions;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission to step up its support for regional food systems and short supply chains, which act as a source of fresh, sustainable and better quality products for consumers; takes the view that legislation on European public procurement should be revised in order to foster local, high-quality food supply systems; underlines the fundamental role of public administrations in the collective catering sector, in which priority should be given to organic, traditional, typical products, products with geographical indication and from a short supply chain;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Considers that local, national or European preference in public tenders for food (canteens, hospitals, etc.) should be encouraged;
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Calls on the Commission to identify practical ways of encouraging short supply chains, such as an exemption from VAT for products sold less than 100 km from their production site, and providing public spaces for the regular or seasonal sale of products from micro- enterprises or regional cooperatives;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Believes that sustainable production should become a key characteristic of EU agri-food products, expanding the concept of quality to social and environmentthe Commission should take into account that sustainability is not only focused on environmental issues as it should be taken as a global concept also including economic and social aspects;
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Believes that the main objective of the Farm to Fork Strategy should be to guarantee the access to healthy and nutritious food for consumers at a fair price, as well as ensuring decent salaries for producers; furthermore the strategy should strengthen the position of EU farmers and producers in the global food supply chain; in this regard the strategy should also set out realistic, achievable, and fair objectives by giving the possibility and the time needed for producers to gradually adapt to any changes required in the production process without any abrupt shifts and without discriminating any sector per se;
Amendment 68 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Remarks that the loss of competitiveness and production capacity caused to European companies - if the announced Farm to Fork target thresholds are confirmed - could only be mitigated if the other major world players also adopted a system of equivalent environmental rules, reminds the Commission that currently there are no elements that make us think that this can happen in a sufficient way;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Underlines the importance of preserving the production specificities, the quality and the distinctiveness of the EU productive model forged through historical and cultural practices; in this regard, stresses the need to consider that many farming practices are part of the national and European cultural heritage and are moreover designed by geographic, regionals and climate related specificities; recalls that those practices should be cherished as part of the European and international heritage and preserved from any ideological interferences; furthermore any future evolvement should take into account the local peculiarities of each Member State and the need to define proportionate and calibrated objectives according to the principle of subsidiarity;
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Urges the Commission to allow Member States that so wish (Bulgaria, Slovakia, etc.) to encourage the creation of special shelves in supermarkets for local or national products;
Amendment 75 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Calls on the Commission to make it easier for quality products from micro- enterprises to access local markets;
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Supports the establishment of a governance framework and a code of conduct for food and retail businesses, in order to make them accountable and aware of the importance of sustainability and health; points out the importance of tackling free-riding throughout the food supply chain in order to ensure a fair price for products and protect the reputation of those products with quality marks;
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Supports the establishment of a governance framework and a code of conduct for food and retail businesses, in order to make them accountable and aware of the importance of sustainability and health; recalls the importance of effective application of the Directive on unfair practices in the agri-food chain;
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Emphasises the importance of enforceable Trade and Sustainable Development chapters in trade agreements to promote biodiversity, foster more sustainable agri-food production and stop EU-driven global deforestation; urges support for developing countries to promote food security and alignment with European standards for sustainability;le production and respect of human rights; ; in this regard, expresses its deep concern on how the Farm to Fork Strategy could generate a higher level of food insecurity worldwide, by reducing the European and the global production as suggested in the report published in 2020 by the United States Department of Agriculture; stresses that it has been evidenced that organic production alone is not able to meet the needs and provide the necessary aliments to feed the world population.
Amendment 90 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Points out that, although food prices are soaring for consumers, producers are still receiving too low a share of the value added; calls for the distribution of value added to be rebalanced;
Amendment 100 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. WelcomAcknowledges the Commission’s initiative to promote healthier diets by introducing nutritional profiles, accompanied by mandatthrough consumer education campaigns and actions that inforym and harmonised labelling of the nutritional vabout the importance of a varied and balanced diet, which does not exclude ofany food as lon the front of packagingg as it is consumed in the right quantities and frequencies and which is accompanied by adequate physical activity;
Amendment 104 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Regrets the absence of an effective impact assessment for the Biodiversity and Farm to Fork strategies and recalls the need to present legislative proposals only when following an assessment of the overall effects of the strategies from an environmental, social and economic point of view;
Amendment 108 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Stresses that the key to pursue the objective of healthier diets should be providing clear and correct information to consumers, not influencing their food choices with distortive claims on nutritional values; it further underlines that nutrition labelling schemes could be detrimental to some products that benefit from an indication of origin;
Amendment 113 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Amendment 115 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses the risk of putting the EU agri-food sector at a competitive disadvantage in the absence of global convergence of standards, and of leading to increased costs for consumers; calls on the Commission to immediately conduct and present a comprehensive neutral impact assessment of the targets envisaged in the Strategy, as well as proportionate measures to maintain the competitiveness of the EU agri-food sector and ensure reciprocity of standards; recalls that FTAs should be based on a coordinated approach, fostering more consistency between trade, customs and market surveillance; furthermore, urges the Commission to set a more ambitious agenda regarding food fraud and adulteration in FTAs;
Amendment 127 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Regards it as essential, further, to keep consumers better informed by introducing mandatory ingredient origin labelling of processed and unprocessed food, which would be broadened to cover animal welfare, sustainability and pesticide residue levels;
Amendment 134 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Underlines the importance of extending the indication of origin labelling, including that of primary ingredients, to all agricultural supply chains; stresses that the indication of origin requirement should be made uniform throughout the EU internal market in such a way that is sustainable for the entire agri-food chain;
Amendment 135 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Amendment 142 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Amendment 143 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Calls for the ‘EU and non-EU’ indication of origin to be immediately prohibited for foodstuffs such as honey and jam, because it is often fake and misleads consumers about the European origin of the product;
Amendment 144 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Calls for a ban on all European public subsidies for slaughterhouses not stunning animals before their slaughter;
Amendment 145 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 d (new)
Paragraph 7 d (new)
7d. Considers that the clear and mandatory origin labelling of food should indicate a precise place of origin in the Member State or third country concerned;
Amendment 169 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Supports the Commission in its efforts to combat food fraud, which misleads consumers and distorts competition in the internal market, and regards it as essential to make the penalties imposed on fraudsters more dissuasive and to earmark sufficient resources so that checks can be stepped up and legally define at EU level the concepts of “Fraud and Agri-food Crime” and that of “Sounding”;
Amendment 175 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Recalls that numerous food scandals have shocked European consumers: processed meat products, such as lasagne, made from horse meat, tainted Brazilian beef, chicken and beef containing hormones and antibiotics, as well as fake honey and fraudulent alcohol and wine; calls for food checks to be increased in order to protect consumers, by setting a minimum number or rate of annual inspections;
Amendment 183 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Notes that Turkey has engaged in unilateral and provocative activities against the EU, Member States and European leaders; notes, further, that Turkish unilateral and provocative activities in the Eastern Mediterranean are still taking place, including in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone; calls on the Commission and Member States to temporarily limit the access of Turkish foodstuffs to the internal market and European consumers.
Amendment 186 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Recalls that the tools of the Farm to Fork Strategy could be profitable for the European market only if environmental and social sustainability are placed at the core of the EU trade policy in relation to agreements with third Countries;