Activities of Elisabeth KÖSTINGER related to 2009/2236(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Explanations of vote
Explanations of vote
Amendments (36)
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas agriculture and forestry remains an important sectors of the economy and at the same time provides essential public goods by maintaining natural resources and cultural landscapes, a precondition for all human activities in rural areas,
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas agriculture and forestry are already making the largest contribution in the European Union to the achievement of the European climate and energy targets, particularly the targets for renewable energies from agriculture- and forestry-derived biomass, and whereas this contribution must continue to grow in the future,
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Points out that rural development is now an integral part of the CAP architecture; continues, therefore, to call for a well equipped second pillar, with its focus on the rural communities, milieu, with a view to improving the environment, modernising and restructuring agriculture and, improving product marketing and competitiveness, and maintaining employment and creating new jobs in the countryside;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. is convinced that the shift in the energy system – from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources – will, to a much greater extent than at present, have to be based on biogenic energy sources derived from agriculture and forestry, in order to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and increase security of supply of renewable energy sources of European origin;
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Believes that agriculture is well placed to make a significant contribution to the fight against climate change by continuing to reduce its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and increasing carbon sequestrationproviding renewable energy sources;
Amendment 250 #
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 subsidisedeven in the face of trade-distorting measures by trading partners; 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 271 #
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’often placed in an unfavourable negotiating position because of the concentration of certain links in the food supply-chain;
Amendment 339 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Recognises that generations of farmers have shaped the valued EU landscapes and, therefore, should be rewarded for continuing to do so in a sustainable way, especially in mountain regions and naturally disadvantaged areas; believes that they are actively contributing to the great cultural value and attractiveness of Europe, providing the backdrop for successful rural tourism. This should, however, be complemented by European regional policy and national instruments to ensure, by means of suitable synergetic effects, the creation of stable regional conditions, which are an essential precondition for properly functioning agriculture;
Amendment 348 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Believes that agriculture has a tremendous potential to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change;
Amendment 356 #
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 and supplying renewable energy whilst at the same time continuing to provide food security for European consumers by producing safe and high-quality food products;
Amendment 361 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30 a. Calls for the two-pillar model of the CAP to be maintained beyond 2013; considers that this structure of the CAP, like the present range of measures under Pillar 2, provides a suitable basis for overcoming future challenges;
Amendment 371 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Insists that EU agriculture must remain competitive against fierce competition fromtrade-distorting measures of well-subsidised trade partners; therefore believes that competitiveness should still be a fundamental objective of the CAP post-2013 to ensure that the EU has the raw materials to produce high- value European food products and they continue to win a greater share of the world market, as well as ensuring fair trade for farmers;
Amendment 375 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Recalls that EU farmers produce food to the highest safety, quality and animal welfare standards and forestry products on the basis of multifunctional, sustainable forestry management; believes that imports from third countries should meet the same requirements to ensure fair competition;
Amendment 405 #
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; in particular, instruments should be introduced to protect agricultural income from excessive price volatility;
Amendment 421 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Calls for a fairer distribution of CAP payments and insists that it should be fair to farmers in both new and old Member States;
Amendment 436 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37 – footnote 8
Paragraph 37 – footnote 8
Amendment 450 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Believes that agriculture has a leadingspecific role to play in tackling climate change by reducing GHG emissions, increasing carbon sequestration capacity and developing and using more renewable energy sources; believes that climate considerations should be integrated across CAP measures where appropriate;
Amendment 454 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Considers that production efficiency is fundamental to more sustainable management of scarce resources and that farmers should innovate by using the latest financial, scientific and technical tools to help meet the growing demand for food in a more economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner; the wishes of consumers must also be taken into account when considering freedom from GMOs;
Amendment 471 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41
41. Notes that the market fails to reward farmers for protecting the environment; therefore believes that the CAPfarmers must become greener by incentivising farm given suitable financial compensation if the CAP becomes more environment- focused, in orders to maximisimprove the delivery of eco-system services toand further improve the sound environmental resource management of EU farmland;
Amendment 491 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Believes that the new CAP must be simple to administer and reduce red tape and administrative burdens on farmers by moving towards the use of delivery tools such as outcome agreements and simple contracts; at the same time points out that, particularly for smaller producers, the bureaucratic burden is disproportionate, so that it would be worth developing a simplified contribution system in Pillars 1 and 2, without jeopardising targets;
Amendment 507 #
Motion for a resolution
Subh. 11
Subh. 11
Delivering a fairer, greener and more sustainable CAP
Amendment 517 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
45. Recognises the wide range of new priorities for the CAP and notes that the new Member States'’ expectation when they joined the European Union was that CAP support would, over time, reach parity with old Member Statesequal participation in the CAP; therefore calls for the 2013 CAP budget amount to be at least maintained post-2013 ifso that the EU is tocan meet its current commitments and successfully deliver the new priorities;
Amendment 541 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47
Paragraph 47
47. Insists that the CAP should not be renationalised and therefore believes that core direct support under Pillar 1 should remain fully financed by the EU budget, hence rejecting any further co-financing under Pillar 1 which could harm fair competition within the EU Single Market;
Amendment 549 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48 – introductory part
Paragraph 48 – introductory part
48. Calls for a fairn objectively-targeted distribution of CAP funds to farmers across the EU; recalls that to respect the diversity of farming in the EU, objective criteria must be found in order to define a fair system of distribution: n objectively-targeted system of distribution: it should be pointed out that direct payments are a way of contributing to income guarantees and risk-hedging for farmers, offsetting the socially desirable high standards in the EU and the continuing reduction of tariff barriers, and providing remuneration for social agricultural activities which receive no market compensation; finds that the level of economic development, which is very different across the Member States, must also be taken into account;
Amendment 563 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48 – point 1
Paragraph 48 – point 1
(1) Believes that in order to reduce the disparities in the distribution of direct support funds between Member States, the hectare basis alone will not be sufficient and, therefore, calls for additional objective criteria such as a purchasing power coefficient to be used toto be used to provide an overview and achieve an overall balanced distribution;
Amendment 573 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48 – point 1 a (new)
Paragraph 48 – point 1 a (new)
(1 a) Rejects any form of reallocation of appropriations from direct payments to Pillar 2 (modulation, degression according to farm size);
Amendment 576 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48 – point 2
Paragraph 48 – point 2
(2) Calls for fair and objective criteria to be clearly defined for the allocation of funds for important rural development objectives; calls also for Pillar 2 to be adhered to so that these objectives may be implemented and financed;
Amendment 585 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50
Paragraph 50
50. Believes that, in the interest of simplification, clarity and a common approach, funding for each of the five building blocks of the CAP must be agreed from the start of the reform;
Amendment 603 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52
Paragraph 52
52. Believes that Member States and regions must continue to have the flexibility to regionalisshape their area payments system in such a way as to reflect their specific priorities;
Amendment 622 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 54
Paragraph 54
54. Considers that there should be no return to coupled payments as a guiding principle of the CAP; however, given the move from a historical to an area support model, takes the view that a limited margin for flexibility should be left to Member States to respond to the specific needs of their territory, in the form of capped coupled payments for vulnerablesensitive regions and types of grassland livestock areasproduction, in compliance with WTO requirements;
Amendment 628 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 55
Paragraph 55
55. Identifies the need for fivecentral key building blocks, namely: such as Food Security and Fair Trade, Sustainabilitincluding protection of European standards, Sustainability and Renewable Energy, Agriculture across Europe, Biodiversity and Environmental Protection, and Green Growth, to achieve a fairer, greener and more sustainable CAP;
Amendment 677 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 57
Paragraph 57
57. Believes that, an EU-funded top-up direct area payment should be made available to farmers through simple contracts rewarding them for reducing their carbon emissions per unit of production and increasings well as voluntary measures under their sequestration of carbon; notes that this would have the double benefit of making EU agriculture more environmentally and economically sustainable through improved efficiency and would also ensure that farmers can financially benefit from increased carbon sequestration on their land and put them on the same footing as other industries which are in the EU ETS; calls for clear and measurable criteria and targets to be defined appropriately to allow these payments to be implemented as soon as possiblecond pillar, farmers should be offered additional incentives to reduce greenhouse gases;
Amendment 684 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 58
Paragraph 58
58. Calls for the continuation of specific measures under the second pillar of the CAP to compensate farmers producing in areas with natural handicaps in order to ensure that agricultural activity takes place and local food is produced across the EU, reducing the threat of land abandonment and ensuring balanced territorial management across the EU; considers that this support scheme should remain co- financed as it currently is;
Amendment 703 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59
Paragraph 59
59. Believes that the CAP, under the second pillar, needs to further incentivise biodiversity and environmental protection measures by providing the opportunity for the vast majority of agricultural land to be covered by agri- environmental schemes to reward farmers for the delivery of additional eco-system services, while other measures beneficial to the environment such as organic farming projects, the sustainable use of forests, water and soil, and the development of high natural value farming should also be encouraged; considers that all these rural development measures should remain co- financed, with an increased budget if necessary;
Amendment 756 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 63
Paragraph 63
Amendment 775 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 64
Paragraph 64
64. Believes that the design and implementation of the new CAP should have simplicity, proportionality and the reduction of bureaucracy at its heart and, therefore, calls on the Commission to use outcome agreements, simple contracts and territorial contracts where appropriate;