17 Amendments of Patrick LE HYARIC related to 2009/2236(INI)
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the economic crisis has had a serious negative effect on agriculture, with farm income decreasing by 12.2% on average between 2008 and 2009; whereas this decline in incomes due to the economic crisis has been coupled in the dairy sector with the gradual elimination of quotas, leading to income losses of up to 54% in some Member States such as France; whereas these substantial income reductions have caused many farms to close down and unemployment in rural areas to increasinge in the last year; whereas as a direct effect of the economic crisis, consumption in Europe decreased on average by 10.55% between 2008 and 2009, and in some Member States this reduction exceeded 20%; whereas other effects of the economic crisis have been a lack of access to credit for farmers and a strain on the public finances of the Member States, weakening their ability to provide co- financing,
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas price volatility in agricultural markets has increased dramatically, as noted in OECD and FAO forecasts, which predict even greater farm price instability in the future, and is expected to increase further, leading to extreme booms and busts in agricultural commodity prices on European markets; whereas between 2006 and 2008, the prices of several commodities rose considerably, some by as much as 180%, as was the case for grains; whereas dairy prices collapsed in 2009, falling on average by 40%; whereas extreme fluctuations in prices have had detrimental consequences for producers and have not benefited consumers,
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas the volatility of agricultural prices is a result of the opening up of agricultural markets without adequate price stabilisation measures being taken despite the fact that prices are affected by many factors such as weather conditions and crude oil prices; whereas the volatility of agricultural prices attracts considerable speculative activity, which adds to the particularly destabilising effects that cyclical trends already have on agricultural markets,
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
Hb. whereas stability is what farmers require to organise their production; whereas this stability can be achieved by establishing an intra-Community minimum price for a given quantity produced in each sector and introducing automatic safeguard clauses to cover price slumps beyond a pre-established threshold which would enable immediate intervention on the markets;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas the EU must continue to ensure food security for its citizens as well as help feed the world’s poor; whereas the EU should encourage the setting-up of similar continental preference schemes while updating its own Community preference system on other continents and in other regions of the world, which would open the way to food cooperation between the various groupings; whereas the number of hungry people now exceeds 1 billion and in the European Union today there are over 40 million poor people who do not have enough to eat,
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q a (new)
Recital Q a (new)
Qa. whereas the reduction in EU customs tariffs on agricultural products envisaged in the Doha Round is, on average, at least 54%,
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. WBelcomes the factieves that the 2003 CAP reform and the 2008 Health Check have allowed EU farmers to better respond and react to market signals and conditionsnot met all their stated goals, i.e. to maintain price stability;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the recognition of the multi- functional role of farmers in delivering public goods such as preserving our environment, high-quality food production, good animal husbandry, shaping and improving the diversity and quality of valued landscapes in the EU, and the move to more sustainable farming practices by not only meeting the basic requirements for maintenance of the land in a Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) but also achieving even higher standards through agri-environmental schemes, precision farming and organic production, a role which now needs to be given greater recognition and taken account of in a pricing policy;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Affirms that Europe will have to make a substantial contribution to meeting that needthe establishment outside the European Union of an updated Community preference system, combined with continental preference schemes similar to the CAP on other continents or in other regions will make a substantial contribution to meeting that need by establishing food cooperation between the various groupings against a background of less land, less water and reduced energy inputs due to the impact of climate change, which will act as a serious constraint on European capacity to increase supply;
Amendment 257 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Is of the opinion that a strong European Common Agricultural Policy is needed to ensure that EU farmers remain competitive on the world market against well subsidised trading partners, and that it should be backed up by a balanced trade policy geared to food security and sovereignty; believes that the EU cannot afford to rely on other parts of the world to provide for European food security in the context of climate change, political instability in certain regions of the world and potential outbreaks of diseases or other events potentially detrimental to production capacity;
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Recalls, as Article 39 of the Lisbon Treaty rightly suggests, that agriculture is a specific sector which suffers from a long- term production cycle and several types of market failure such as high market volatility, great exposure to natural disasters, a high level of risk, lack of demand elasticity, and the fact that farmers are 'price-takers' rather than 'price-makers' in the food supply-chain; points out that farmers' livelihoods are dependent on the establishment of a basic price for a given quantity produced in each farming sector;
Amendment 357 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Believes that agriculture is well placed to make a major contribution to delivering the new EU 2020 Strategy priorities of tackling climate change and creating new jobs through green growth whilst at the same time continuing to provide food security for European consumers by producing safe and high-quality food products; this involves creating new market regulation tools;
Amendment 415 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Believes that there has to be a minimum safety net within the future framework of the CAP in order to manage extreme market price volatility and provide rapid and efficient responses to economic crises arising in the sector; this safety net includes an intra-Community minimum pricing policy;
Amendment 660 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 56 a (new)
Paragraph 56 a (new)
56a. Takes the view that the European Union must examine an overhauled two-way Community preference mechanism, combined with a European initiative proposing that other country or continent groupings also create preference mechanisms;
Amendment 665 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 56 b (new)
Paragraph 56 b (new)
56b. Suggests that, in order to promote fair trade and food sovereignty and to contribute to combating global warming, taxation at borders should be introduced for illegal imports, with the tax revenue generated by it being paid into a global social and environmental fund;
Amendment 698 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 58 a (new)
Paragraph 58 a (new)
58a. Takes the view that peri-urban areas have essential agricultural potential which must be preserved and developed, given that they can contribute to local food supply for urban populations;
Amendment 724 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 60
Paragraph 60
60. Believes that 'green growth' should be at the heart of a new rural development strategy focussing on creating new green jobs through: the development of biomass, biowaste, biogas and small-scale renewable energy production as well as encouraging the production of second-generation biofuels, investing in modernisation and innovation as well as new research and development techniques for adaptation to and mitigation of climate change, providing training and advice to farmers for applying new techniques and to assist young farmers entering the industry, and adding value to high-quality products through promotion and marketing measures, such as the development and consolidation of the geographical indication policy (PAO/PGI);