26 Amendments of Willem SCHUTH related to 2008/2175(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation - 1 (new)
Citation - 1 (new)
– having regard to the Commission communication of 9 December 2008 entitled 'Food prices in Europe' (COM(2008)0821),
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 a (new)
Citation 3 a (new)
– having regard to the Commission communication of 20 May 2008 entitled 'Tackling the challenge of rising food prices – Directions for EU action' (COM(2008)0321),
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas Europe and the world have recently experienced ahigh food price volatility with sometimes significant food price surge, withrises and ambiguous effects on the agricultural sector, with some gaining from the rise in prices and others - mostly on the food processing side - incurring much greater costs,
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas over the last years, large retailers have come to dominate the European food markets; whereas the degree of concentration has grown from an average 21.7% in 1993 to more than 70% at present in the EU 15 there have been significant changes in the competitive structure of the food supply chain and increases in the degree of concentration among both food producers and wholesalers and retailers,
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas evidence from across the EU suggests big supermarkets abuse their buying power to force dowthat the concentration prioces paid to suppliers to unsustainable levels and impose unfair conditions upon them; whereas large retailers across Europe are fast-becoming ‘gatekeepers’, controlling farmers’ and other suppliers’ access to EU consumers in the food supply chain and the internationalisation of agricultural markets have led to increased pressure on prices at all levels,
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas consumer prices in Europe are on average up to five times the farm gate price; whereas farmers in Europe received approximately half of the retail price of food fifty years ago and today that proportion has dropped dramatically to much lower levels, such as 7% in the UK and 18% in France; whereas in the case of bread, retail prices can be as - in conjunction with a marked rise in the degree to whigch as 30 times the farm gatefood is prioce, with farmers receiving in general around 8% of the final pricessed - has dropped dramatically,
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes Europe should provide consumers withthat only functioning competition at all levels of the food supply chain can guarantee the supply of food at reasonable prices and farmers with afor consumers and stable incomes for farmers; believes that reasonable prices need to be paid to farmers to guarantee a constant supply of good quality food, produced under European standards; affirms that producers involved in processing and distribution must also get a reasonable remuneration;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers that a broad series of factors influence the price transmission mechanism and the gap between producer and consumer prices; names among these factors the marketing behaviour of food producers and retailers, the share of non- agricultural costs (such as energy and labour), legislative and regulatory frameworks, the perishable nature of the product, the degree of product processing and handling or consumer purchasing preferences;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Considers that among factors that most influence the price transmission mechanism and the gap between consumer and producer prices, retailincreasing concentration, the extent of cooperative marketing and pricing policie along the whole of the food supply chain, the degree of product processing and price rises linked to other external cost factors, as well as speculation with agricultural commodities play a determining role;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Draws attention to the fact that a largethe anti- competitive exercise of market power can particularly pays off in the agri-food sector, given that the price inelasticity of agricultural supply on the one hand and consumer demand on the otheris relatively low;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Is concerned by marketing practices such as below the cost selling of goods, in order to generate higher numbers of supermarket visits; is in support of banning below the cost selling of food and supports Member States that have already introduced such measures; wishes to see more European action taken against such aggressive pricing measurWishes to see more European action taken against anti-competitive practices, as well as other anti-competitive practind the illegal exploitation of market dominances in the EU;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Is worriedNotes that in light of the CAP reform and in particular decoupling, farmer decisions on what to produce will be influenced more by signals coming from the retail sector in terms of prices and demandmarket; believes that the increase of Community food imports is likely to reduce prices at the farmcontribute to stronger competition;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Draws attention to the fact that retailers take advantage of labels such as that of "fair trade products" in order to increase profit margins at the expense of thehigher prices for "fair trade products" are the result of their particular production conditions and increased demand and willingness to pay among consumers;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Acknowledges that in the short term, the effects of market concentration at the various levels of the food supply chain can lead to lower price levels ofor food, but can have negative effects on the medium and long term, bythat in the medium and long term care must be taken to ensure that this does not damaginge free competition and drivinge small producers out of the market;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Draws attention to the fact that many SMEs in the food sector are extremely vulnerable especially if they are largely dependent on one large retail storeproducer or dealer; notes that retailersthese often employ race- to -the -bottom price competitions between several suppliers and in order to stay in business small companies need to cut costs and margins, which translates into reduced payments to farmers, fewer employees and lower quality products for consumera process of concentration among SMEs;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls onEndorses the Commission's decision to propose an efficient European System ofmarket monitoring of the marketsystem, able to register price trendencies and costs of inputs across the whole supply chain; this system should asensure transparency and permit cross- border comparisons between similar products; considers that this system has to be established in close cooperation with Eurostat and national statistical authorities and should work closely with the network of European Consumer Centres (ECC);
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Notes with concern that much more transparency is needed on the pricing structure and profit margins of retailers, processors and primary producers; cCalls on competition authorities at national and European levels to investigate and evaluate consumer prices throughout the EU to ensure that competition rules are respected;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. CallIs oin Member State authorities and the European Commission to provide detailed research and analysis into price transmission and the margins applying between the farm gate and the final consumer price; calls for the instatement of a Commission task force on the food supply chafavour of further research into the structure of prices and competitiveness by the High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the Agro-Food Industry, and welcomes its sector-specific recommendations to political decision- makers at Community level; supports the road map set out in the Commission Communication of 9 December 2008 for improving the way in, working together with national competition authoritihich the supply chain operates;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Proposes thatIs in favour of national competition authorities, which have a broad role under Community legislation with regards to monitoring production, trade and competitionthe way in which the food supply chain operates, strengthening their cooperation under the coordination of the Commission, through the open method of coordination, on monitoring production costs and trade and within the European Competition Network, in order to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Icalls concerned about the influence of intermediaries in the final consumer price; call the Commission to continue its analysis onf the Commission to launch an analysis and to promote means to reduce the role of intermediaries intofood supply chain, in order to build up a detailed picture of the whole process of price formation;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Is in favour of introducing policies that sponsor a wider and more direct contact between producers and consumers, as this can provide producers with a more relevant role in the market, by reducing the power of the intermediaries and large retailers, while at the same time offering consumers a better and wider choice of products and enhancing their awareness of local products;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37