26 Amendments of Anthea McINTYRE related to 2013/2100(INI)
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. Whereas horticulture includes fruit, vegetables, potatoes, salads, herbs and ornamentals;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. Whereas the EU produces 44% of the world's flowers and pot plants, with the highest density per hectare, and is worth a total estimated value of 19.8 billion euros;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Emphasises the need to make it easier for producers to gain access to third- country markets, for example by removing phytosanitary barriers that limit the export potential of flowers and ornamental plants; calls on the Commission to increase its efforts to support horticultural exporters to overcome the increasing number of non-tariff barriers, such as some third country phytosanitary standards, that make EU exports difficult, if not impossible;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Encourages the promotion of F&V consumption and the wider use of ornamental plants in Member States through educational activities such as the Grow Your Own Potato and Cook Your Own Potato industry schemes, as well as the National Gardening Week and the RHS Campaign for School Gardening, in the UK;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Emphasises the benefits of ornamental horticulture to human health and well-being in enhancing green spaces, in amelioration of the urban environment in relation to climate change and to the rural economy; stresses the need for more active support for this sector, in terms of encouraging investment and career development;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Believes that roof gardens can be used to create green spaces in urban areas to improve air quality and biodiversity and provide significant potential for the growing of plants and of small quantities of fruit and vegetables; urges the Member States to encourage the use of roof gardens wherever possible in urban environments;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission, in its review of the EU F&V regime, to produce clearer and practical rules about how POs should be designed and managed, and believes that in order to encourage more growers to join POs it is crucially important that the scheme adapts to fit the market structures that exist in Member States;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Notes with concern that Producer Organisation scheme rules are open to wide interpretation by the Commission's Auditors, which leads to a high degree of uncertainty and can leave Member States at risk of disallowance and judicial review; also stresses that audit procedures and financial corrections must be carried out in a more timely manner and within an agreed audit time period;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that horticulture is reliant on a variety of plant protection and fertiliser products, (PPPs) and urges the Commission to take a risk- based approach to the regulation of these products that is justified by scientific evidence; emphasises that minor uses are particularly vulnerable and calls on the Commission to strengthen the co- ordination of data generation across the Member States, specifically residues data which is an essential requirement for authorisations on edible speciality crops; calls on DG Agri, DG Sanco, DG Environment and DG Competition to work strategically together to take into account the impact of changes to plant protection productPPP regulation from multiple perspectives;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls on the Commission to simplify mutual recognition procedures to facilitate the approval of products for minor uses by the Member States; urges the Commission to consider the long-term goal of global harmonisation for regulating PPPs and reducing non-tariff trade barriers to export trade;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Recalls that both the Plant Protection Products Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of 21 October 2009) and the new Biocides Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 of 22 May 2012) require the Commission to specify scientific criteria for the determination of endocrine- disrupting properties by December 2013; is concerned that these criteria have the potential towill remove significant substances which could still be used with acceptable risk; urges the Commission to fully consider the impact of different approaches when presenting proposals for endocrine disruptors;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Emphasises that the horticulture sector relies heavily on the use of high quality, well specified fertiliser materials; welcomes the current review of the EU Fertilisers Regulation but notes with concern the Commission's aim to include the previously non-prescribed material soil improvers; stresses that this material does not require precision in manufacturing and use and calls on the Commission not to include it within the scope of the Fertilisers Regulation;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Highlights the potential offact that the horticulture sector is leading the development and adoption of innovative precision farming in horticulturesystems and believes that such techniques could significantly reduce the use of chemicalssystems will reduce the use of pesticides and fertilisers, increase marketable yields and reduce waste as well as improve continuity of supply and economic performance;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Notes with concern the Commission proposal for a regulation on plant reproductive material (COM(2013)0262) and stresses that while regulation in this area is necessary, to assure quality and facilitate innovation in breeding, the proposals would impact disproportionately on the horticultural sector, and in particular on ornamentals and fruit; stresses that any legislation should be proportional and recognise the principle of subsidiarity;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Notes the impact of non-native invasive horticultural species on the wider environment, but recommends that a regional, or country based approach is taken in the Commission proposal for a regulation on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species (COM(2013) 620), which recognises that some areas of Europe are more vulnerable than others and that different areas of Europe have different climates that will support a different array of plants;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Urges the Commission to prioritise economically important horticultural crops for funding and research using new and innovative plant breeding techniques, and to provide clarity about the regulatory status of plants produced by these new techniques;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Calls on the Commission to provide clarity about the regulatory status of plants produced by new breeding techniques (NBTs) and to ensure that any NBTs that are found not to lead to GMOs will be treated like conventional breeding techniques, and will therefore not be subject to any process based pre-market authorisation procedures;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on the Commission to differentiate between cisgenic and transgenic plants and to create a different approvals process for cisgenic plants so as to recognise that cisgenesis is an extension of plant breeding and not a form of genetic modificationaccelerated form of conventional plant breeding;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Welcomes the renewed emphasis on apprenticeships in workforce trainingworkforce training and apprenticeships but notes with concern that the numbers of people completing horticulture apprenticeships in some Member States remains worryingly low;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Emphasises the benefits of strengthening and extending partnerships between government, industry and research organisations and the need to clarify through dialogue respective roles and funding responsibilities in order toensure that schemes to support such partnerships are structured in a way that maximises the impact and coherence of investments overall;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Calls on the Commission to use the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation to fund applied research that supports the development of integrated strategies for pest, disease and weed control, to provide producers with the necessary tools and information to address Directive 2009/128/EC which says in Article 14 that Member States must "take all necessary measures to promote low pesticide-input pest management, giving, wherever possible, priority to non- chemical methods" and "establish, or support the establishment of necessary conditions for the implementation of integrated pest management";
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 b (new)
Paragraph 20 b (new)
20b. Is of the view that the floriculture and ornamental plant sector must be allowed to make better use of Union programmes for research, technological development and innovation, and calls on the Commission to include 'protected cultivation' in Horizon 2020 calls;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Calls on supermarkets to take into account market research which shows that many consumers are not necessarily worried about the cosmetic appearance of fruit and vegetables and are happy to purchase lower grade produce, particularly if this may appear to be cheaper;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 b (new)
Paragraph 23 b (new)
23b. Notes with concern the overall loss and waste of fruit and vegetables intended for first market use and the significant economic loss to business, but welcomes the efforts being made by actors in the food supply chain to redirect this produce into a secondary market rather than disposing of it;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 c (new)
Paragraph 23 c (new)
23c. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to make the legislative and political environment as supportive as possible for uses of horticultural waste; cites that there are a number of materials, such as spent mushroom compost, which could be used in the production of value added growing media were it not classified as 'waste';
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 d (new)
Paragraph 23 d (new)
23d. Underlines the importance of user friendly and quarterly EU-wide horticultural statistics to help producers better understand market trends and prepare future harvests; calls on the Commission to include ornamentals in its forecast information;