27 Amendments of Peter JAHR related to 2017/2116(INI)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A (new)
Recital -A (new)
-A. whereas, historically, the European deficit in protein crops dates back to old international trade agreements, especially with the United States, which allowed the European Community to protect its cereal production but in return allowed duty-free imports of protein crops and oilseeds into the Union (GATT and 1992 Blair House Agreement); whereas this was accompanied by significant progress in the efficiency of protein crop production in third countries, leading to a competitive disadvantage for EU farmers, for whom protein crop production is not sufficiently attractive from an economic point of view;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A a (new)
Recital -A a (new)
-Aa. whereas, consequently, the Union devotes only 3% of its arable land to protein crops and imports more than 75% of its vegetable protein supply, mainly from Brazil, Argentina and the United States;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A b (new)
Recital -A b (new)
-Ab. whereas total European production of protein-rich matter rose from 24.2 to 36.3 million tonnes (+50%) between 1994 and 2014, but whereas at the same time consumption increased from 39.7 million tonnes to 57.1 million tonnes (+44%); whereas the Union’s overall deficit (20.8 tonnes in 2014) is therefore increasing;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A c (new)
Recital -A c (new)
-Ac. whereas livestock sectors in the Union are extremely sensitive to price volatility and distortion of competition and are dependent on imports of affordable and high quality vegetable protein, which poses a real challenge for European farms;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas proteins are at the core of the challenges of food safety, animal feed, renewables, environmental protection and global warming; whereas they are essential to life and are present in all foods consumed by both humans and animals;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas in recent years China has become the world’s largest importer of soya and has launched a genuine and non- transparent security of supply strategy for itself which could threaten our own supplies tomorrow and endanger the stability of the markets of the Union;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas the production of protein crops, particularly soya, in many regions outside Europe is a major driver of global deforestation and whereas increased European protein crop growing could provide an important complement to measures to promote agricultural commodity supply chains without deforestation;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas there is a need today for a strategic, effective and ambitious protein supply plan to be implemented for the sustainable development of European agriculture; whereas such a plan requires the mobilisation of several EU policies, first and foremost the CAP; whereas legal certainty and the stability and coherence of European public policies are essential parts of any credible long-term protein strategy;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
Ia. whereas in recent decades the Union has used three main levers to support the objective of European protein independence, namely voluntary coupled aid for protein and oilseed crops, EU biofuel policy and the conditionality of 30% of direct support introduced by the last reform of the Common Agricultural Policy in relation to the implementation of greening measures, including the obligation to devote 5% of arable land to ecological focus areas (EFAs) and the decision to allow nitrogen-fixing crops and catch crops;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I b (new)
Recital I b (new)
Ib. whereas over the period 2000-2013 the measures introduced by the CAP did not by themselves succeed in reversing the declining trend or stagnation in protein production in Europe, but whereas since 2013 the combination of such support together with the ‘greening’ measure authorising the cultivation of protein crops in ecological focus areas has been a decisive factor in a return to growth in the area and production of proteins in Europe;
Amendment 93 #
Ic. whereas protein crop cultivation can participate fully in the circular economy by producing, on the one hand, meal used in animal feed and, on the other hand, vegetable oils or other by- products used in biofuels; whereas the production of rapeseed meal has doubled since 2004, with 9.3 million tonnes being directly attributable to biofuel production in the EU;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas the proteins research policy should be stepped up and extended over the, owing to the small share of protein crop cultivation in the EU, the number of vegetable protein research programmes is falling, matched by a decline in training, innovation and the acquisition of practical experience in the EU; whereas the proteins research policy should be stepped up but would only succeed if it is backed by medium- to long -term political commitments;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Takes the view that it is time to implement a major strategic European vegetable protein supply plan based on the sustainable development of all the crops grown throughout the EU; further takes the view that this change implies a substantial alteration of our production systems to meet the requirements of the circular economy and of agroecology; sustainable farming production;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Points out that the EU’s earlier protein strategy, under the second CAP pillar, was not taken up by farmers, as protein crops were financially unattractive compared with other crops;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Points out that protein crops, as well as being a source of protein, also benefit soil and biodiversity;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Is of the opinion that a European protein strategy cannot succeed unless it is linked to other policy issues, for example the recast of the Renewable Energy Directive, and that, in particular, the dual use of rape as a feed protein and an energy source should be taken into account; calls, therefore, for the proportion of first-generation biofuels to be set at 7%;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recommends supporting the cultivation of soya, new varieties of which are currently opening up fresh possibilities, but notes that this should not overshadow interest in other grain protein crops (lupins, faba beans, peas, chickpeas, etc.); deplores the fact that the delegated act on greening, which prohibits the use of pesticides in ecological focus areas under peas and beans, was not rejected; to that extent considers it unfortunate that a costly protein strategy should now have to be put in place in order to achieve the same effect;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Maintains that parts of carcasses unfit for human consumption – primarily on account of their appearance – should be considered for use as feed for monogastric animals under a new European protein strategy;
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Calls for heavy investment in research, including varietal research, to improve the technical performance of these crops and solve the pressing agronomic issues that are limiting protein crop cultivation, such as the stabilisation of yields in the face of changes in climatic conditions;
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Takes the view that this plan calls for the mobilisation and coordination of several EU policies: the CAP, research policy, environmental and climate action policy; the neighbourhood policy and trade policy;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Considers it important for the CAP to support protein crop cultivation by means of the voluntary coupled payment (which, if not restricted to crops and regions in difficulty, would give scope for more action) and the greening payment, and by means of the second pillar, particularly through agro-environmental measures on organic farming, investment quality, advice, training and of course innovation via the EIPNotes that the voluntary coupled payment for protein crops is part of the European protein strategy; believes, however, that transferring financial support schemes to the second pillar is an option that should be considered;
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18b. Believes that useful lessons should be learnt from the recent ban on the use of pesticides in Ecological Focus Areas, even though, in 2016, they accounted for15 % of Europe’s arable land (8 million hectares) and almost 40% of these areas are used for nitrogen-fixing or catch crops; stresses that farmers are now faced with a dilemma between bearing the cost of starting and continuing to grow these crops without the assurance of being able to react to pest invasions, or reducing the share of ecological focus areas to what is strictly required under the rules, or choosing to leave them uncultivated;
Amendment 289 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 c (new)
Paragraph 18 c (new)
18c. Welcomes the fact that, in the context of the omnibus revision of the Common Agricultural Policy, Parliament obtained a revaluation of the conversion coefficient for nitrogen-fixing crops from 0.7 to 1 in compensation for the ban on the use of pesticides in Ecological Focus Areas;
Amendment 290 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 d (new)
Paragraph 18 d (new)
18d. Stresses that biofuels form part of a circular economy when they are manufactured from by-products, waste or residues, take up a small proportion of farmland, are beneficial with regard to crop rotation and diversification and to making use of fallow land in accordance with the green measures under the CAP and do not, on their own, cause food prices to go up;
Amendment 295 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Feels it is relevant to the future of the CAP to: consider additional proposals to support proteins, such as those for three- year-minimummultiannual rotation systems ; create an ecosystem payment that is more flexible than the greening payment so as to encourage sustainable agricultural practices; provide risk-taking mechanisms for innovators; and open up a proteins sub- priority in the rural development policy;
Amendment 319 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Takes the view that it is necessary to secure our soya supplies by cooperating more closely with our neighbourhood, in particular with Ukraine, which has opted for Europe and which produces soya that could be brought into the EU via the Danube – breeding being among the areas to explore further – instead of importing supplies from overseas;