21 Amendments of Eleonora EVI related to 2017/2116(INI)
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Believes that the promotion of protein crop cultivation is a powerful tool n important tool for ensuring the transition towards more sustainable agri-food systems, supporting a shift from input-intensive crop monoculturefrom intensive monocultures with a high input of synthetic chemical products and high environmental impact towards diversified agro-ecological systems;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Believes that the best way to use protein crops is for food for humans. Their production should therefore follow an order of priorities which favours direct human consumption followed by the production of animal feed and which permits biofuel production from waste only;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Recalls that consumption of red meat may lead to the onset of cardiovascular disease and that, according to a recent publication by the IARC in Lyon, consumption even in modest daily amounts of processed red meat may increase the risk of cancer;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Recalls that animal production is responsible for about 15% of total greenhouse gas emissions and that, according to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the only way to address the food needs of a growing human population is by reducing the consumption of meat and dairy products;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. Recalls that between 1990 and 2013 livestock numbers in the EU27 increased by about 40 million; stresses that the intensification of stockbreeding, and the resulting imbalance between the area of land growing fodder and livestock numbers is at the root of the need to import most of the feed and the raw materials to produce it;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Highlights the fact that protein crops include not only soybeansa, but also grain and forage legumes, which can be grown in a diverse range ofare well adapted to all agro-climatic and soil conditions across Europethe EU;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. NoteRecalls that protein crops have a wide range of environmental benefits, such as being able to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, using less fossil fuel-based fertilisers, improving soil properties, reducing disease levels and protecting biodiversityare able to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, reducing demand for synthetic fertilisers. Stresses the environmental advantages of protein crops, including improving the physical characteristics of the soil, promoting biodiversity, reducing the spread of disease, reducing nitrogen dioxide emissions during cultivation and enteric methane from livestock breeding;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recalls that in a European strategy for the promotion of protein crops, it is essential to ensure the rotation of crops to improve soil structure and fertility and biodiversity, preventing pathogenic and parasitic accumulation and reducing the use of pesticides and water pollution;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recalls that the EU relies on massive imports of protein-rich feed materials, for the most part genetically modified soya, which may give rise to serious environmental problems in source countrieimports about 70% of animal feed which consists mostly of soya or derived products from transgenic varieties which may give rise to serious environmental problems during cultivation and uncertain health risks for European consumers;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Recalls that according to the FAO, over the past quarter of a century forests have been cleared from an area the size of India particularly in Central and South America and that expansion of pastures for livestock production has been one of the driving forces behind this destruction. Deforestation causes incalculable environmental damage, releasing billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and driving thousands of species of life to extinction each year;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Stresses that Commission data shows that over 50% of EU cereals are used to feed animals; notes that the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has warned that further ruse of cereals as animal feed could threaten food security by reducing the grain available for human consumption;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Recalls that some 75% of soybeans go to feed animals and that genetically modified soybean is planted on over 90 million hectares worldwide, the 82% of the total surface for soy cultivation; recalls that in US the percentage of GE soybean is well over 90%;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4d. Recalls that the massive use of herbicide resistant transgenic (HT) plant varieties has helped considerably to the selection of resistant weeds; highlights that a similar trend can be observed among target insects becoming resistant to insecticidal protein released by Bt transgenic plant; stresses the risk that HT plant can be sprayed with herbicides just before the harvesting thus increasing the risk of higher concentration of chemical residues in commercial products;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recalls that the CAP has a decisive impact on farmers’ decisions to grow protein crops and should therefore be used to its full potentialamended in order to use its full potential for enhancing protein cultivation and reducing carbon and environmental footprint of farming;
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Recalls the importance to promote practices such as the nomadic apiculture that can either boost agricultural productivity, biodiversity and ensure a better resilience to the apiculture sector;
Amendment 92 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recalls that the by-products of food and bio-fuel production and certain processed animal proteinsmay represent important alternative sources of proteins for feed;
Amendment 95 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Believes that the promotion of protein crops should not result in the promotion of biofuel production. The production of biofuel from leguminous crops must be limited to waste from production and processing;
Amendment 97 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to make greater efforts to promote pesticide-free agriculture for the benefit of the environment and consumers;
Amendment 105 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Recalls that vegetal protein are healthier than animal ones;
Amendment 106 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Highlights the importance that dietary education may play in shaping the food demands; stresses the need for the adoption of dietary guidelines at either EU or Member States' level aimed at promoting healthy diet while addressing the environmental concerns linked to food production;
Amendment 116 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Supports the establishment of transparent product labelling systems based on certified production standards, such as the Danube Soya and Europe Soya standardstresses the need for investment in research to solve the pressing agronomic issues that are limiting protein crop cultivation in the EU;