24 Amendments of Matt CARTHY related to 2014/0014(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4

(4) A trend of declining consumption in particular of fresh fruit and vegetables including bananas and drinking milk has been identified. It is therefore appropriate to focus the distribution under the school schemes on these products. This would in turn also help reduce the organisational burden for schools, increase the impact of the distribution within a limited budget and would be in line with the current practice, as these products are most frequently distributed. However, efforts will also be made to ensure the distribution of locally grown products.

2015/02/05
Committee: AGRI

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5

(5) Educational measures that support the distribution are necessary in order to make the scheme effective in reaching its short- and long-term objectives of increasing the consumption of selected agricultural products and shaping healthier diets. Considering their importance, these measures should support both the fruit and vegetables including bananas and milk distribution. They should be eligible for the Union aid. As supporting measures they represent a critical tool to reconnect children with agriculture and its different products and to meet the objectives that the scheme is pursuing, Member States should be allowed to include a wider variety of agricultural products into their thematic measures. However, so as to promote healthy eating habits, Member States may involve their national health authorities ~~should be involved~~ in this process ~~and~~to approve the list of these products, as well as the two groups of products eligible for the distribution, and decide on their nutritional aspects, if they so wish.

2015/02/05
Committee: AGRI

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5

(5) Educational measures that support the distribution are necessary in order to make the scheme effective in reaching its short- and long-term objectives of increasing the consumption of selected agricultural products and shaping healthier diets. Considering their importance, these measures should support both the fruit and vegetables including bananas and milk distribution. They should be eligible for the Union aid. As supporting measures they represent a critical tool to reconnect children with agriculture and its different locally-grown products ~~and t~~. To meet the objectives that the scheme is pursuing, Member States should be allowed to include a wider variety of agricultural products into their thematic measures, preferably according to what is produced in the region. However, so as to promote healthy eating habits, the national health authorities should be involved in this process and approve the list of these products, as well as the two groups of products eligible for the distribution, and decide on their nutritional aspects.

2015/02/05
Committee: AGRI

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6

(6) In order to ensure a sound budgetary management, a fixed ceiling of the Union aid towards the distribution of fruit and vegetables including bananas and milk, supporting educational measures and related costs should be provided for. This ceiling should reflect the current situation. In light of the experience gained and with a view to simplify the management, the financing models should be approximated and based on a single approach as regards the level of Union financial contribution. It is therefore appropriate to limit the level of Union aid towards the price of products through a maximum Union aid per ~~portion~~child both for fruit and vegetables including bananas and for milk ~~and~~to abolish the principle of obligatory co-financing for fruit and vegetables including bananas. Considering the price volatility of products in question, the power to adopt certain acts should be delegated to the Commission in respect of measures setting the levels of the Union aid towards the price of a portion of products and laying down the definition of a portion.

2015/02/05
Committee: AGRI

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7

(7) In order to ensure the efficient and targeted use of Union funds~~, the power to adopt certain acts should be delegated to the Commission in respect of measures fixing the indicative~~ allocations of the Union aid to each Member State and the methods for reallocating aid between Member States on the basis of aid requests received. The indicative allocations should be fixed separately for the fruit and vegetables including bananas and milk in line with the voluntary approach to distribution. The allocation key for fruit and vegetables including bananas should reflect the current allocations by Member States, will be based on the objective criteria of the number of children in the age group of six- to ten-year olds as a proportion of the population~~, taking into the account also the development status of regions concerned. In order to allow Member States to maintain~~ used for bothe scale of their current programmes and with a view of encouraging others to take up the distribution of milk, it is appropriate to use the combination of two keys for the allocation of the funds for milk, namely the historical use of funds by Member States under the School Milk Scheme and the objective criteria of the number of children in the age group of six- to ten- year olds as a proportion of the population used for the fruit and vegetables including bananas. In order to find the right proportion for these two keys, the power to adopt certain acts should be delegated to the Commission in respect of adopting additional rules concerning the balance between the two criteria. Furthermore, considering the recurrent changes in the demographic or development situation of regions in Member States, the power to adopt certain acts should be delegated to the Commission in respect of assessing every three years whether the Member States' allocations, based on those criteria, are still up to datehemes.

2015/02/05
Committee: AGRI

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9

(9) In the interest of sound administration and budget management, Member States wishing to participate in the distribution of fruit and vegetables including bananas and/or milk should apply every five years for the Union aid. With a view of simplifying the procedures and management, this application should be done on the basis of separate aid requests. Following the requests of the Member States, the Commission should decide on the definitive allocations for fruit and vegetables including bananas and milk within the appropriations available in the budget and after taking into account limited transfers between their allocations, which encourage prioritising of distribution based on the nutritional needs, The power to adopt certain acts should be delegated to the Commission in respect of the measures setting the conditions and the limits concerning these transfers.

2015/02/05
Committee: AGRI

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10

(10) The national strategy should be considered as the condition for the Member State's participation in the scheme and as a strategic multiannual document, setting out targets to be achieved by Member States and their priorities. To reduce the administrative burden on national authorities, the national strategies should be submitted once every five years. Member States should be allowed to update them regularly, in particular in light of the evaluations and reassessment of priorities or targets.

2015/02/05
Committee: AGRI

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10

(10) The national strategy should be considered as the condition for the Member State’s participation in the scheme and as a strategic multiannual document with a timeframe of three to five years, setting out targets to be achieved by Member States and their priorities. Member States should be allowed to update them regularly, in particular in light of the evaluations and reassessment of priorities or targets.

2015/02/05
Committee: AGRI

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11

(11) In order to ensure the visibility of the scheme, Member States should explain in their strategy how they will guarantee the added value of their scheme, especially where products financed under the Union scheme are consumed at the same time as other meals provided to children in an educational establishment. In order to ensure that the educational purpose of the Union scheme is attained and effective, the power to adopt certain acts should be delegated to the Commission in respect of the rules concerning the distribution of the products financed under the Union scheme in relation to the provision of other meals in educational establishments and their preparationbe empowered to decide how best to promote it both nationally and locally as a tailored approach promoting local produce is likely to have the largest uptake.

2015/02/05
Committee: AGRI

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12

(12) In order to ensure that the price of products provided to children under the scheme fully reflects the amount of the aid provided and that subsidised products are not deflected from their intended use, the power to adopt certain acts should be delegated to the Commission in respect of establishment of price monitoring under the scheme. These acts will not act as deterrents to Member States encouraging the sourcing of local produce.

2015/02/05
Committee: AGRI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3

Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013
Article 23 – paragraph 3

3. As a condition for their participation in the school scheme Member States shall draw up, prior to their participation in the school scheme, and subsequently every ~~six~~three years, at national or regional level, a strategy for the implementation of the scheme. The strategy may be amended by a Member State, in particular in the light of monitoring and evaluation. The strategy shall at least identify the needs to be met, the ranking of the needs in terms of priorities, the target population, the results expected and the quantified targets to be attained in relation to the initial situation, and lay down the most appropriate instruments and actions for attaining those objectives.

2015/02/05
Committee: AGRI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3

Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013
Article 23 – paragraph 5

5. When drawing up their strategies, Member States shall determine a list of agricultural products, in addition to fruit and vegetables, bananas and milk, that may occasionally be included under the supporting educational measures, as well as the region where they are produced.

2015/02/05
Committee: AGRI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3

Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013
Article 23 – paragraph 6

6. Member States shall choose the products to be featured in the distribution or to be included in supporting educational measures on the basis of objective criteria which may include the health and environmental considerations, seasonality, variety, or availability of local produce, always giving priority to the extent practicable to products originating in the Unregion, particularly to local purchasing, organic products, short supply chains or environmental benefits.. When this is impossible, the programme must justify this option.

2015/02/05
Committee: AGRI

Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3

Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013
Article 23 – Paragraph 7

7. Member States ~~shall~~may, in order to promote healthy eating habits, e~~nsure that~~mpower their competent health authorities to endorse the list of all the products supplied under the school scheme and decide on their nutritional aspects, if they so wish.

2015/02/05
Committee: AGRI