Activities of Miguel VIEGAS related to 2017/2009(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on EU action for sustainability
Amendments (34)
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the 2030 Agenda and its sustainability goals; stresses that, although the EU farming industry is already making a valuable contribution to sustainability, through the Common Agricultural Policy and stringent environmental requirements, it still needs to adapt better to the many challenges facing itand that public policies to promote and enhance rural agro-ecological farming methods are the right way to meet sustainability goals;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the 2030 Agenda and its sustainability goals; stresses that, although the EU farming industry is already making a valuabl the successive market-driven reforms of the CAP have contributioned to sustainability, through the Common Agricultural Policy and stringent environmental requirements, it still needs to adapt better to the many challenges facing itmore intensive production, thereby compromising these goals, and agri-environmental measures are very far from offsetting this trend;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Takes the view that, in line with UN SDG 2 (end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture), the main function of agriculture is food production, and the dismantling of production systems that is directly affecting those Member States with weaker production systems has significantly increased their food dependency and jeopardised their food sovereignty;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Rejects the idea that more production and growth whatever the cost could be compatible with sustainable development or could serve the purpose of combating the problem of hunger and malnutrition in the world;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Urges the Commission to avoid defining the nutritional dimension of food production in simplistic terms, disregarding the fact that food and nutrition security means (continuing) access to a varied and wholesome diet, in terms of quality, quantity, and variety and must not be reduced purely to calorie intake;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. Recalls the role and importance of agriculture in guaranteeing access to varied and healthy diets, in keeping with cultural values; urges that emphasis be placed on growing food with a high nutritional content instead of on crops produced in abundance which have a high calorie content, as opposed to nutritional content (maize, sugar), since this strategy could cause dietary nutrient deficiencies;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1e. Notes that food security should be defined as a guarantee that families have regular and permanent physical and economic access to a basic set of foodstuffs in sufficient quantity and quality to meet their nutritional needs;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 f (new)
Paragraph 1 f (new)
1f. Notes that healthy food is defined as a food pattern that meets the biological and social needs of individuals in keeping with the various stages in their lives; notes that this concept considers food practices to have a cultural reference point and attaches value to the consumption of healthy regional food, while always taking into account behavioural and emotional aspects linked to food practices, which are incompatible with the practices of agro- industry, intensive farming and monoculture;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 g (new)
Paragraph 1 g (new)
1g. Recognises that the proper biological use of food, a process involving the digestion-absorption-metabolism- excretion chain that is necessary for full health and well-being, can be guaranteed only through access to basic public services (health, water and sanitation, housing and social security, among others);
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 h (new)
Paragraph 1 h (new)
1h. Draws attention to the fact that guaranteeing and complying with the right to food and nutrition and combating hunger are incompatible with the goal of maximising profits, the abuse of market power and pricing dominance, the occupation of land, poor working conditions and pesticide use;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 i (new)
Paragraph 1 i (new)
1i. Condemns the imposition by rich countries of agricultural models designed to further the interests of large agro- industry multinationals, as has been occurring with free-trade agreements;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Points out that the EU rural agro- ecological farming industry provides jobs for millions of people in rural areas, guarantees food supplies and attracts people to rural areas as a place in which to live, work and relax;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Points out that the EU farming industry should provides jobs for millions of people in rural areas, guarantees food supplies and attracts people to rural areas as a place in which to live, work and relax;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Believes that adequate levels of public investment must be ensured so as to guarantee lasting, sustainable and inclusive solutions;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Takes the view that every farmer should receive a decent income resulting primarily from the sale of his product;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Stresses the need to enter into commitments enabling workers to enjoy social protection and a decent income from their output, guaranteeing a minimum income sufficient to cope with hunger and pay for proper food;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 d (new)
Paragraph 2 d (new)
2d. Stresses, in particular, women’s fundamental role as members of family farms, which constitute the main socioeconomic cell of rural areas, in caring for food production, preservation of traditional knowledge and skills, cultural identity and protection of the environment, bearing in mind that women in rural areas are also affected by wage and pension gaps;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 e (new)
Paragraph 2 e (new)
2e. Recalls that it is important to guarantee proper public services, notably care for children and the elderly, given that such services are particularly important for women, since they have traditionally played a major role in looking after young and elderly members of the family;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls for farmpublic policies promoting to bhe developedment of farming by focusing on family holdings and exploiting the advantages of regional value chains; holdings of human dimension, agro- ecological methods, production regulation instruments and market prices that guarantee returns; points out that water, seeds and soil are essential in these processes, for which reason access to these public resources will always be guaranteed, while the privatisation of water, seed patenting and land grabbing will not be authorised;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls for farming to be developed by focusing on family holdings, guaranteeing a fair income for farmers through public supply regulation mechanisms and exploiting the advantages of regional value chains;
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Believes that a sustainable future entails ending the subordination of agriculture and food production to the market and competitiveness;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Considers it necessary to put an end to the extreme bias that currently exists (introduced with a model geared to intensive agriculture based on the trade in farm inputs and seeds), which increases the discrimination suffered by local seed exchange schemes that are a key source and ensure access to these goods for rural communities, particularly for poor farmers;
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Rejects attempts of any kind to patent life, plants and animals, genetic material, or essential biological processes, especially where native strains and species are concerned;
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3d. Stresses that a sustainable future for farming and the environment means safeguarding and promoting access to seeds and agricultural inputs for smallholder farmers and marginalised groups, and promoting and safeguarding the exchange of seeds and their public ownership, and sustainable traditional techniques that guarantee the human right to proper food and nutrition;
Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 e (new)
Paragraph 3 e (new)
3e. Underlines the need to counter intensive export models, giving priority to regional and local production and consumption, promoting a different energy-related and environmental rationality, and giving preference to the ownership of land by local communities as an effective way of guaranteeing food quality and security;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 f (new)
Paragraph 3 f (new)
3f. Urges that action be taken to promote the effective use of traditional agricultural varieties specific to certain regions, combating the export-led standardisation of agricultural production and intensive models of agriculture that result from current agricultural and trade policies, of which the CAP is an example, and to encourage sustainable small and medium-scale production linked to local and regional markets and consumption;
Amendment 76 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses the significance of sustainable forest management in Europe, which complements family holdings without replacing them and without occupying farmland, secures jobs, generates added value and makes a crucial contribution to the achievement of biodiversity, climate and environmental protection targets;
Amendment 77 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses the significance of sustainable forest management in Europe based on collective solutions, particularly in countries which have predominantly small-scale ownership, which secures jobs, generates added value and makes a crucial contribution to the achievement of biodiversity, climate and environmental protection targets;
Amendment 91 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses the importance for farms of bioenergy, based on second-generation biofuels, which helps to secure farmers’ incomes, by offering them an additional product to sell, and creates jobs in rural areas;
Amendment 97 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that, by using agricultural waste, the bioeconomy sustainable agro- ecological farming methods can help to reduce the environmental impact of farming, in the form of emissions of greenhouse gases and pollutants into the air, soil and bodies of water, and can also contribute to the more efficient use of resources;
Amendment 113 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses the contribution that the livestock sector will be able to makes to the EU economy, provided that it is regulated and subject to fair systems for distributing production, and notes its potential to contribute to a better functioning agricultural ecosystem and a climate- friendly farming industry;
Amendment 119 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Stresses the need to prevent measures that would have the effect of obstructing access to adequate nutrition and food, in particular measures that prevent people's access to and use of local resources and inputs that guarantee their survival;
Amendment 124 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Regards further progress in precision farming, digitalisation, plant and animal breeding and integrated pest management as essential, because increased efficiency will help to reduce the impact of farming on the environment; takes the view, likewise, that successfully implementing Agenda 2030 and achieving its sustainability goals entail a reorientation of the CAP, readjusting supply regulation instruments and safeguarding production rights, together with a substantial shift in the EU’s trade policy in relation to third countries.
Amendment 136 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Points out that public facilities for the withdrawal of products – such as silos, collective milking barns, slaughterhouses, refrigerated storage, and dryers – have played an important part in guaranteeing small farmers’ incomes and calls for their reactivation;