13 Amendments of Maria HEUBUCH related to 2015/2279(INI)
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the mountain grassland managed by small farms has great ecological and economic importance; ruminants are the principal users of grasslands, keeping landscapes accessible and inhabited and so benefiting local food production, tourism, biodiversity and the environment;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas milk production is of vital importance to small farmers in areas with a large proportion of mountain grassland;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
Dc. whereas mountain milk accounts for around 10% of milk from the EU-27, but constitutes 2/3 of milk and involves 3/4 of producers in Austria, Slovenia and Finland, and that the corresponding figures also remain very significant in a further ten or so countries; whereas in most of these humid mountain regions, and also in outermost regions, milk herds are the principal users of grasslands, keeping landscapes accessible and inhabited and so benefiting tourism, biodiversity and the environment;
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Considers that measures under the second pillar of the CAP must ensure the sustainability and diversification of agricultural production in mountain areas by supporting the emergence of projects that create added value, innovation projects, agricultural investment projects and farm development projects and projects to maintain processing enterprises; points out that in-situ processing and marketing on farms or alpine pastures means greater added value for smallholdings and micro farms and enhances the tourist potential of these locations; points out that touristic facilities can further enhance their profile by using local agricultural products; stresses that these funds should be used as tools to boost the competitiveness of the regional agricultural sector and / or as a means of allowing the economic diversification of farms;
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Considers that measures under the second pillar of the CAP must ensure the sustainability and diversification of agricultural production in mountain areas by supporting the emergence of projects that create added value, innovation projects, agricultural investment projects and farm development projects and projects to maintain processing enterprises; stresses that these funds should be used as tools to boost the competitiveness of the regional agricultural sector and / or as a means of allowing the economic diversification of farms; encourages Member States and regions to make use of the opportunity under the Rural Development Regulation to create thematic sub-programmes focused around the needs of mountain areas, which are eligible for higher support rates for public funding;
Amendment 97 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Points out that, given the substantial logistical problems arising with regard to transport and the generally small quantities of milk produced on individual farms, collection costs in mountain areas, disadvantaged areas and outermost regions, are particularly high, placing them at a major geographical and competitive disadvantage; calls on the Member States and regions accordingly to earmark state subsidies for processing plants, so as to offset the higher costs of collection compared with those in more favourable locations;
Amendment 98 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Calls for urgent complementary studies to assess the territorial impact of milk quota abolition by groups of countries, regions, particularly outermost regions, and soil and climate zones – mountain areas, disadvantaged areas, intermediate mixed farming areas (livestock farming, lowlands) – so that the risks of relocation and abandonment of farms in numerous regions can be anticipated and, if possible limited;
Amendment 99 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Calls on the Commission to redefine a coherent rural and milk development project for mountain areas, for disadvantaged milk production areas and for Member States where most of the milk is produced by very small farms;
Amendment 121 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses the importance of establishing producer groups or organisations to strengthen the bargaining power of farmers in the food chain; underlines the necessity of the use of supply management mechanisms by producer groups and organisations to avoid excessive market volatility and to ensure fair and stable prices for producers, particularly in the milk market, through incentives for farmers to reduce production at time of price stress and penalties for increasing production, along the lines proposed by the European Milk Board;
Amendment 136 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission to strengthen promotion and information initiatives concerning the ‘'mountain products’' label and, more generally, the PDO, PGI and TSG labels.; however, expresses concern that the "mountain products" label allows for animals to spend significant parts of their lifespan outside mountain areas, and allows for significant quantities of raw materials, feed and for processing to be sourced from and to occur outside of mountain areas; therefore, questions the use of this label in terms of providing accurate information to consumers;
Amendment 139 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Takes the view that any transfer of volume of raw milk sourced from less favoured areas (mountainous areas, intermediate LFAs, areas with a specific natural handicap) to an area which is not a LFA, or between different types of LFA, must be authorised in advance by the inter-branch organisation to which the collector and producer concerned belong;
Amendment 142 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Stresses the need for small scale farmers in mountain areas to keep and develop more regionalised and local markets, which can be promoted through the development of European policy on short supply chains;
Amendment 143 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Paragraph 10 c (new)
10c. Stresses that hygiene and marketing rules have to fit to the special size of markets and their demands, therefore the hygiene standards should be adequate and applicable for mountain farmers, farmers in disadvantaged areas and outermost regions as well as for the milk-processors in these areas;