19 Amendments of Molly SCOTT CATO related to 2014/2234(INI)
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas farmers respecting the common rules of CAP and EU environment policy provide public goods such as landscapes, farmland biodiversity and climate stability, which are of intrinsic value to society and the environment;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas controls on environmental performance are a means to guarantee the continuation of the public goods provided by agriculture, recognizing their value by linking them to payments, reflecting the ‘public money for public goods’ principle;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Cc. whereas cross-compliance and greening measures provide a sound baseline for sustainability of EU agriculture;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Recital C d (new)
Recital C d (new)
Cd. whereas controls on effective implementation of these rules allow to minimise the costs externalised to other areas of public spending due to environmental damage or dangers to public health;
Amendment 100 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Favours the increased use of e- Government technology by the Member States in order to forestall errors in the application process; recalls that the reliable implementation of e-Government technologies requires Member States to develop, finance or co-finance such technology.
Amendment 106 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Calls on the Commission and European Court of Auditors to develop a supportive audit regime which encourages not only proper achievement but surpassing of the objectives of CAP regulation.
Amendment 108 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Insists that in any risk-based audit strategy, the scope of risk be extended to include risk to the environment and to public health and their associated costs, in addition to the risk to public funds in the EU budget.
Amendment 110 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8c. Calls on the Commission to improve its guidelines on inspections, so as to ensure consistency of checks.
Amendment 111 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 d (new)
Paragraph 8 d (new)
8d. Recalls the European Court of Auditors recommendation to turn cross- compliance measures into verifiable standards, with expected impacts defined beforehand and then measured.
Amendment 112 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 e (new)
Paragraph 8 e (new)
8e. Recalls that the cost of ensuring cross- compliance and greening is far lower than the cost of their weak implementation, whereby extra costs would be incurred to clean up environmental pollution and solve public health crises.
Amendment 113 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 f (new)
Paragraph 8 f (new)
8f. Stresses that efforts to reduce the burden of controls should pay particular attention to the needs of smaller-scale and family farms in the auditing process, aiming to minimise the number of inspections as far as possible, whilst ensuring sound spending of EU funds and correct implementation of relevant EU legislation.
Amendment 114 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 g (new)
Paragraph 8 g (new)
8g. Recalls that, under Article 4.1(h) of the Regulation No 1307/2013 on direct payments, ‘permanent grassland and permanent pasture’ can include land used to grow ligneous forage species, which can be grazed and which forms part of established local practices where grasses and other herbaceous forage are traditionally not predominant in grazing areas; calls on Member States to ensure that farmers grazing in upland conditions are not discriminated against in eligibility rules for permanent grassland and permanent pasture or the value of entitlements.
Amendment 115 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 h (new)
Paragraph 8 h (new)
8h. Demands greater clarity in the delegated act defining ‘active farmers’, ensuring that smaller-scale farmers and family farms are recognized as such.
Amendment 116 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 i (new)
Paragraph 8 i (new)
8i. Argues for a better integration of the polluter pays principle as concerns penalties for non-compliance.
Amendment 117 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 j (new)
Paragraph 8 j (new)
8j. Recalls that the Water Framework Directive and Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive shall be part of cross compliance measures as soon as the last Member State has implemented the farmer relevant aspects.
Amendment 118 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 k (new)
Paragraph 8 k (new)
8k. Argues for the setting up of specific thresholds for pesticides, taking into account the different problems facing individual river basins and ecologically sensitive regions.
Amendment 119 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 l (new)
Paragraph 8 l (new)
8l. Calls for the Commission to submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a report on the information communicated by the Member States in relation to the National Action Plans for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides, as requested in article 4.3 of Directive 2009/128/EC1 a ; recalls that this report shall contain methods used and the implications concerning the establishment of different types of targets to reduce the risks and use of pesticides. ___________ 1a Sustainable Use of Pesticides
Amendment 120 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 m (new)
Paragraph 8 m (new)
8m. Stresses that much administrative burden, on both farmers and administrators, could be reduced simply by improving the interoperability of databases in IACS (integrated administration and control system) as currently already applied in some Member States; notes that all Member States should ensure adequate investment in such systems and their hardware and software components, whether through independent financing or co-financing alongside EU funds.
Amendment 121 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 n (new)
Paragraph 8 n (new)
8n. Requests that the Commission encourage the exchange of best practices, to ensure the smoothest controls and least disturbance for the farmers.