Activities of Elisabeth KÖSTINGER related to 2009/2237(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Fair revenues for farmers: A better functioning food supply chain in Europe (A7-0225/2010, José Bové) (vote)
Fair revenues for farmers: A better functioning food supply chain in Europe (debate)
Amendments (21)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6
Citation 6
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas the European Union already makes a very large number of advance payments under its development aid policy, and whereas bilateral agreements must not be made one-sidedly to the detriment of European agriculture,
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that the recently created European food price monitoring tool is very complex and is a long way from meetdoes not really contribute to improving transparency on food price building; consumers’ and farmers’ need for malls, therefore, fore transparency on food price buildinghis instrument to be amended to achieve better comparability;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission to swiftly carry out the pilot project on the creation of a European farm prices and margins observatory and to establish it within the Commission, for which Parliament and Council adopted a EUR 1.5 million appropriation under the 2010 budget, and to include a comparison of production costs and farm gate prices in key farming sectors of different territories and social- economic situations;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to submit a legislative proposal for introducing mandatory annual reporting bystudy in which the top 20 traders, processors, wholesalers and retailers onset out their market shares (with data on private labels) for key food items and on their monthly sales volumes so as to allow all market partners to estimate trends in demand, supply and price developments in the food chain;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Notes that in some countries the food processing industry has the largest margin in the food chain, as has also been confirmed by the Commission; calls for the processing industry in particular therefore to be monitored and investigated in order to guarantee price transparency;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on national and European competition authorities to take action against abusive buyer practices of dominant processors, wholesalers and retailers which systematically put farmers in an extremely unequal bargaining position;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Notes that, to their detriment, farmers and producer groups have a weaker negotiating position than the downstream industry and other parts of the food chain; calls on the Commission therefore to make changes to competition and/or market organisation law in order to make the negotiating position fairer;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Commission to identify the parts of the food supply chain in which competition is distorted and not balanced; calls for those parts to be made more balanced;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission to submit a legislative proposal on better implementation ofmore targeted application of, and, if necessary, amendments to, competition rules in the food chain so as to effectively limit the development of dominant market positions and strengthen farmers’ bargaining power through efficient producer organisations and SMEs;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission to amend European competition law so as to prevent damage caused by concentration and resultant buyer power abuse in the food chain, for example through late payments to farmers, subsequent alterations to contract terms, forced discounts, resale at loss, high volume requirements and unjustified listing fees;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Calls on the Commission to propose legislation on a specific mandatory maximum time limit for payments of 30 days from the date of delivery or transfer, applicable to all foodstuffs and all operators right along the food supply chain to the retail trade;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Calls on the Commission to examine whether requirements imposed by individual distribution chains, over and above statutory stipulations, in relation to vegetable-growing and fruit-growing practices and pesticide residues are liable to impede free trade and unfairly to strengthen the position of distributors in the food supply chain;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Warns that the increasing use of private labels and the associated dominance and market power of distributors can cause problems in relation to price building; calls, therefore, for farmers and producer groups to be treated fairly in the process of price building, specifically in relation to private labels;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Takes the view that the Commission’s recommendations to enhance vertical integration of the food industry do not reflect the need to rebalance bargaining power between farmers, distributors and the food industry;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Calls on the Commission to propose legislation for a safety-net-type instrument, covering both the upper and lower levels of the market, to curb speculation and price volatility;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Deplores the fact that the Commission communication disregards correlations between low farm gate prices and structural surplus production and their consequences for food quality and employment in, in its reports, does not place more emphasis on the importance of agriculture as the first stage in the food- supply and food-industry economic value chain; points out that European farming today largely follows principles of sustainability, with particular consideration for disadvantaged regions;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Urges the Commission to include in its future action programmes recommendations by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology (IAASTD) on global food supply and the United Nations report on ‘agribusiness and the right to food’, in its activities, to be particularly attentive to the situation in developing countries and not to jeopardise the self-supply of food in these third countries;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Deplores the fact that the Commission has ignored food chains which are not or only partially integrated into the market economy, such asCalls on the Commission to pay due attention, when setting EU standards, to locally based food producers such as those involved in subsistence or semi- subsistence production;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Commission to modify rules on public procurement practices for catering services so as to enhance sustainable farming practices, develop seasonal and local food and reduce dependence on fossil agricultural inputs;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Urges the Commission to take action against the huge waste of food in the food chain, which in most Member States comprises up to 30% of producedfood wastage via an awareness- raising campaign about the essential value of food;