42 Amendments of Jean-Paul DENANOT related to 2017/2088(INI)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas everywhere, for more than 50 years, agricultural development supported by the CAP has favoured enlargement, concentration of holdings and strong capitalisation of production assets, making it difficult for some holdings to be passed on and/or accessible to young people, owing to the amounts of capital required in order to take them over;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas there is stiff competition for access to land between young people wishing to take up farming and farmers who are already well established, and in some cases, even between young people and investment firms which have started to take an interest in agriculture;
Amendment 15 #
Ac. whereas in the future a whole agricultural development model based on family farms is at risk;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the shortage of young people pursuing careers in farming is jeopardising the economic and social sustainability of rural areas and the EU's food self-sufficiency; whereas, for this reason, all European policies should encourage generational renewal, and the CAP should particularly do so in the agricultural sector;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the shortage of young people pursuing careers in farming is jeopardising the economic and social sustainability of rural areas and may jeopardise our food security and the way that farmers have provided us with food for centuries;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas in the EU not all Member States have a genuine policy relating to setting-up in agriculture and not all of them use all the instruments that the CAP offers to support young farmers, especially the second-pillar measure on ‘business start-up aid for young farmers';
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas young women taking over the responsibility of management of a farming business represent only a small part of young farmers, but are however not a homogenous group and thus have different needs while starting this career;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas supporting young farmers is a prerequisite for preserving agriculture across the EU and for keeping rural areas alive on the basis of a large number of diversified farms on a human scale, which create wealth and jobs, facilitating the integration of young people into working life, irrespective of whether the young people in question originally come from farming backgrounds;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas supporting young farmers is an indispensable prerequisite for preserving agriculture across the EU and for keeping rural areas alive and attractive, fostering the diversity of farms and promoting sustainable family farming;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas EU support for young farmers should be better targeted in order to ensure generational renewal and combat the decline in and concentration of holdings;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas generational renewal depends above all on a real desire on the part of (European and national) elected politicians and the relevant professionals, and particularly on older people; whereas that desire presupposes an ambitious and coherent overall policy - which is not genuinely the case today - involving both CAP tools and various national policy instruments in areas as diverse as land, financing, land tenure modes and farm structure policies, taxation, law of succession, pension schemes, training, etc.
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas the maintenance of local public services (postal, medical, social, educational, cultural and transport) is essential to maintaining an attractive environment; whereas young people living in rural areas should have access to the same services as those in urban areas so as not to increase further the rural exodus and the territorial divide;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recommends that the support to the ‘Young Farmer Scheme’ should continue and the maximum level of national funding allocation be increased beyond 2 % in order to encourage generational renewal and the setting up of young people outside the family (who often experience additional difficulties);
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Proposes making it mandatory for Member States to implement as part of their rural development programmes start-up support measures for young farmers (young farmer grants) and measures to support farm modernisation, as provided for under the second pillar of the CAP, in order to enhance the financial support for people taking up farming;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recommends that the limit placed on access to supports (currently five years from the establishment of the business) and the intervention logic should be reviewed in order to define more precisely and tangibly the objectives and the expected results and to encourage generational turnover;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Considers it necessary to promote new forms of participatory financing in agriculture and those already observed within the EU on land piggybacking, which can be combined with these new financial instruments;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Draws attention to the opportunities for young farmers offered in the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds in addition to CAP support to design and implement financial instruments in the form of loan, guarantee or equity funds in order to provide access to finance to those in need;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls for consultancy support to be made systematically available, particularly for young people not from rural areas;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Is disappointed at the lack of coordination between payments for young farmers and the set-up support measure, which are managed by different authorities;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Calls on the Commission to develop a more holistic approach enabling greater synergies between pillar I and pillar II supports, and stresses that the latter should be implemented by all Member States;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Notes that access to land is the largest barrier to new entrants to farming in Europe and is limited by the low supply of land for sale or rent in many regions, as well as by the competition from other farmers, investors and residential users; considers that the land access problem is exacerbated by the current direct payment structure, which requires minimal active use of the land and allocates subsidies largely on the basis of land ownership; believes that the existing farmersbelieves that some farmers, whether owners or tenants, are incentivised to retmain land accessactive in order to retain subsidy access instead of ensuring the best use ofcontinue to benefit from subsidies by using service providers to enhance their land or by doing the minimum of work on their land; recommends capping support and increasing the activity levels required to receive payments and to target subsidy payments towards the achievement of particular outcomes (e.g. real working time spent farming, production of specific environmental or social goods);
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Notes that access to land is the largest barrier to new entrants to farming in Europe and is limited by the low supply of land for sale or rent in many regions, as well as by the competition from other farmers, investors and residential users; considers that the land access problem is exacerbated by the current direct payment structure, which requires minimal active use of the land and allocates subsidies largely on the basis of land ownership; believes that the existing farmers are incentivised to retain land access in order to retain subsidy access instead of ensuring the best use of the land, leading to the gradual disappearance of family farming; recommends increasing the activity levels required to receive payments and to target subsidy payments towards the achievement of particular outcomes (e.g. production of specific environmental or social goods) and to move to a system combining support per hectare with support per worker;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Notes that access to land is the largest barrier to new entrants to farming in Europe and is limited by the low supply of land for sale or rent in many regions, as well as by the competition from other farmers, investors and residential users; considers that the land access problem is exacerbated by the current direct payment structure, which requires minimal active use of the land and allocates subsidies largely on the basis of land ownership; believes that the existing farmers are incentivised to retain land access in order to retain subsidy access instead of ensuring the best use of the land; recommends increasing sustainably and in an ecologically responsible way the activity levels required to receive payments and to target subsidy payments towards the achievement of particular outcomes (e.g. production of specific environmental or social goods);
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Encourages more active national policies to regulate farmland and reduce the impact of speculation on farmland as much as possible, and for those policies to be better coordinated with EU recommendations on access to land with best practices;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Encourages more active national policies with EU recommendations on access to land with best practice, based on national farm structure policies that make it possible for newly available land to be freed up for new facilities rather than for enlargements;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Calls for more aid to be directed towards isolated or less populated areas, or areas affected by insufficient generational renewal;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Calls on the Commission to produce an evaluation of the direct and indirect impact of land and farmland repurchase by non-EU residents on the availability and price of farmland;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Proposes legislative action to enable the establishment of national programmes aimed at facilitating land mobility and succession planning services; through farmland clearing houses, schemes for the mentoring of young farmers by retiring farmers who wish to pass their farm onto a young farmer, progressive farm transfer schemes to help transfer farms over time, tax incentives to boost the pension levels of retiring farmers who wish to help a young farmer get started...
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls on all the Member States to introduce assistance for the transfer of farms in an effort to support farm managers over the age of 55 and without successors, who can find themselves in a precarious situation when the time comes to retire, on the condition that they hand over all or part of their farm to one or more young person(s);
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Believes that a proper definition of an active farmer, taking account of the work factor, will help generational renewal, drive structural change and aid land mobility;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes that in many Member States the generational renewal and the access of young people to agricultural land is hindered by late succession; considers that the current CAP lacks any incentives for older farmers to pass their businesses to younger generations; recommends reconsidering the implementation of measures that would motivate older holders to pass their farms to young farmers, such as the ‘farm-exit scheme’ and other incentives for retirement, so that lands do not all fall into the hands of neighbouring farms; points out the need for legal structures such as the 'Groupements Agricoles d'Exploitation en Commun' (GAEC), which can help young people to set up business together and ease transfer between generations;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes that in many Member States the generational renewal and the access of young people to agricultural land is hindered by late succession; considers that the current CAP lacks any incentives for older farmers to pass their businesses to younger generations; recommends reconsidering the implementation of measures that would motivate older holders to pass their farms to young farmers, such as the ‘farm-exit scheme’ and other incentives for a retirement, conditional on the transfer of the farm to a young person;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. notes the difference in the situation between generation renewal within the family and new entrants; believes that vocational training and courses must be adapted to those who plan to take over the family business or to those who plan to start a new business, according to their needs;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13b. stresses that young women should be encouraged to take on the responsibility of management in agriculture and should be given adequate support in terms of access to land, credit and further knowledge of rules and regulations;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Takes the view that national land, urban and land-use planning (e.g. transport infrastructure) policies should take account of the practices of land waste and abandonment, and bring this land back into the agricultural sector so as to make more farmable land available to young farmers setting up;
Amendment 240 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Takes the view that the EU should have land quality laws, given that land quality is deteriorating as a result of unsuitable agricultural development; this land deterioration affects the land market and land prices, but also reduces the production capacity of lands passed on to future generations of farmer;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Believes that a proper definition of active farmer willand a task-based distribution of aid could help generational renewal, driveby bringing about structural change and aidboosting land mobility;
Amendment 257 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Notes that there is a need to modernise and give greater value to the vocational training provided in rural regions; believes that access to the European Social Fund (ESF) should be facilitated and an increased budget given to vocational training in rural areas;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17b. Takes the view that a welcoming environment should be created for young people in the farming industry, via collective and solidary-based structures such as the joint farming groups of an agricultural enterprise (farmers' societies), cooperatives for the use of communal agricultural equipment , cooperatives for the processing and marketing of agricultural products, labour-sharing groups, replacement services, mutual assistance groups, agricultural extension and innovation groups, farmers' and consumers' associations, networks between agricultural and non-agricultural actors (LEADER) ...; these kinds of organisation help professionals to share experience, advice and certain expenses, which is important for the budget and revenue of young people, who often have to pay significant start-up costs;
Amendment 283 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 c (new)
Paragraph 17 c (new)
17c. Takes the view that generational renewal depends on the attractiveness of the farming profession, but in particular on its capacity to generate an income for those who wish to make a living from it; for agriculture to be viable, the CAP must allow for a certain level of market regulation, in particular when the markets are not functioning well and are causing crises; the current deregulation of markets is having a negative impact on the development of agriculture, is turning young people away from agriculture, and is having a serious impact on the young people who have already set up farms and have huge debts as a result of their start- up costs.