31 Amendments of Mairead McGUINNESS related to 2011/2114(INI)
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the EU is heavily dependent on fossil fuels imports: whereas increasing resource efficiency is central to the Europe 2020 Strategy and the Commission's Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas agricultural production in the EU is in the main oil dependent and the food supply chain relies heavily on its availability and affordability; whereas global oil production is expected to start to decline by on average 2-3% per year;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
Dc. whereas increases in crude oil prices are inextricably linked with increases in agricultural input costs, resulting in higher energy, feed and fertilizer prices, which impacts on global food production;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D d (new)
Recital D d (new)
Dd. whereas the manufacture of farm fertilizers is totally dependent on the ready supply of phosphate rock; whereas its commodity price increased by 800% in 2007/2008 and its supply could peak by 2033-2035 after which it will become increasingly scarce;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas increased costs for leased land and land prices also strongly influence the viability of farming and young entrants in farming and should be included in reflections on possible cuts in input costs; whereas this situation should be improved, especially for young farmers and if needed through better regulationthe price of farmland and the cost of land rental directly impacts on the viability of farming and on the ability of young entrants to get established in farming;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas farmers are prices takers in both the farm input supply chain and the food supply chain;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
Ka. whereas advisory/extension and training services should play a key role in promoting increasingly sustainable and cost-effective agricultural production in the EU;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas crop rotation should be included in ‘greening’ measures as part of CAP reform with regard to its significantcan contributione to climate change mitigation and the potential for reducing thprovides for the sustainable use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas production of leguminous protein crops in the EU as well as improved grass-fed production systems would reduce the EU's protein deficit and its dependence on feed imports and wcould have major economic benefits for farmers, but will not be a one-size-fits-all solution to the existing multiple imbalances in the farm input supply chain and would also lead to a reduction in the production of other, more resource efficient arable crops;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P a (new)
Recital P a (new)
Pa. whereas such measures should not endanger the EU's security of food supply in terms of productivity and output levels;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q
Recital Q
Q. whereas farm saved seeds can offer significant economic and environmental benefits, including cost reductions for farmers and less commodity dependence, thereby responding to specific agronomic conditions in farms; whereas improved infrastructure in this field can significantly reduce animal feed and seed production costs in the long term, in certain circumstances and for specific varieties, an alternative to commercial seeds;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on the Commission to include in its work programme a revision of legislationand Member States to improve the transparency of on- farm input prices and the price margins of industries upstream of farming;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls on the Commission to further support sustainable and productive agriculture, in order to meet environmental and food challenges, as well as ensuring it remains profitable and competitive in the world market;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on the Commission to better evaluate the impact of EU legislation on the sustainability and competitiveness of European agriculture, in particular, consideration should be given to the costs of complying with legislation and the impact that has on the availability of inputs as well as on the prices of those inputs;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on national and European competition authorities to address robustly the dominant posipply EU antitrust legislation tof agribusiness traders and input companies, and to consider proposals for anti-trust legislations applicable to all sectors;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Urgently calls on the Commission to undertake an in-depth study into the differences in approach between the 27 national competition authorities and policies and to encourage solutions which involve all partners in the food production chain and which prevent dominant positions of one or a mere few parts of the input or output chain, which often occur at the expense of the agricultural producer;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses also the need for an EU-wide system for exchanging information on good practices in nutrient, energy and natural resources and the management which reduce input cosof other inputs in order to achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency of inputs;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls for the new rural development policy to include specific support measures for better resource management and for sustainable practices which reduce input costs and vulnerability to price volatility, and which specifically support short and/or more efficient input and food chains;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. CWelcomes the Commission's increased focus on Europe's bioeconomy; calls for a substantial part of the next research framework programme to be earmarked for applied R&D in farm-inputs management in order to reduce input costs and improve agronomic practices, including involvement and improvedand improving agronomic efficiency; stresses that the results of research must be translated into the practical enhancement of agricultural production through training and capacity building for farmers and; stresses the need for better collaboration between the public and private science organisations andectors, as well as farmers organisations in this regard;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Recognises that sustainable growth is one of the key priorities of the Europe 2020 Strategy and that our dependence on fossil fuels exposes us to shocks in these markets; reiterates the need to replace this dependence on finite resources with sufficiently robust alternatives, mindful of the balance between maintaining food production and promoting energy creation;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote, through legislative measures, investments in energy saving and renewable energy production on-farm or in local partnership projects (wind, solar, biogas, geothermic etc.) with a special focus on using waste and by-products on a local level;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Commission to analyse energy costs in the various existing farm systems and the associated input providers, processing industry and distribution systems in relation to productivity and output, taking into account energy efficiency and use of sustainable energy sources to respond to the new challenges, and the necessary rebalancing of crop and animal production;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Repeats its call to include crop rotation and crop diversity in an optional EU-wide list of ‘greening’ measures to be rewarded within the CAP, given the positive effect the former have on climate change mitigation, soil and water quality and farmers' finances (with significantly reduced use of fertilisers, soil improvers, plant protection products and pesticides which will reduce input costs for farmers);
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Calls furthermore on the Commission and Council to include investments into precision farming in an optional EU-wide list of ‘greening’ measures to be rewarded within the CAP, as these innovative practices (such as GPS-based soil) have similar positive effects on climate change mitigation, soil and water quality and farmers’ finances (with significantly reduced use of fertilisers, water, soil improvers, plant protection products and pesticides which will reduce input costs for farmers);
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Stresses that EU agricultural production is dependent on the import of phosphate rock for the manufacture of fertilizers, with the majority of it mined in five countries worldwide; calls on the Commission to address this issue;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Calls on the Commission to better evaluate the impact of the loss of plant protection products on the competitiveness and sustainability of European agriculture, looking in particular at the suitability of products still available and the impact on prices with fewer competing products on the market;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Repeats its calls for the Commission to swiftly submit to Parliament and the Council a report on the possibilities and options for increasing domestic protein crop production in the EU by means of new policy instruments, thereby reducing the EU's dependence on protein imports and the external input of mineral fertilisers and pesticides, and examining the potential effect of these options on farmers' revenue; stresses that while increasing domestic protein crop production will have some benefits it is unlikely to have a significant impact on the import of feed from outside the EU; believes therefore that other avenues will need to be explored in the short term to address the protein deficit in the EU, and points specifically to the fundamental role of soya imports; calls on the Commission to make sure that these measures do not endanger the EU’s overall objective of security of food supply in terms of productivity and output levels;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support efforts to maintain the use of farm saved seed in EU farming in view of its significant economic and environmental benefits and contribution to agro-biodiversitymaintain the possibility for farmers to use farm saved seeds as laid down in Article (1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 2100/94 on Community plant variety rights;
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Calls on the Commission to conduct a study into the impact land lease and increased costs for land purchase and lease are having on farming sectors in the EU Member States and to determine whether monitoring of access to land and new legislation in this field is necessary in order to avoid further disconnection between land prices, land lease and agricultural use value;
Amendment 224 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23 a. 23bis. Draws in this regard the Commission’s attention to the positive effect precision farming has on water use (through the GPS based monitoring of soil conditions and weather forecasts) and demands that investments into these and other innovative solutions which decrease the use of inputs such as water, fertilisers and plant protection products can be covered by ‘Greening’ options of the future CAP;