Activities of James NICHOLSON related to 2018/2037(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
The future of food and farming (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the future of food and farming PDF (814 KB) DOC (176 KB)
Amendments (17)
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the new delivery model (NDM) is at the core of the Commission’s communication on the Future of Food and Farming, and is to be welcomed, provided that it ensures genuine simplification, not only at EU level but also at Member State and, regional and farm level, and flexibility for farmers, without adding new constraints on Member States and thus a new layer of complexity;
Amendment 410 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers that subsidiarity for Member States should only be gris importanted within a common set of rules and tools agreed at EU level and as part of a uniformstandard approach to all programming efforts and eligibility criteria, should cover both of the CAP’s pillars and ensure, in particular, a European approach in Pillar I and thus a level playing field;
Amendment 427 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Underlines the necessity for a clear, simple and unambiguous framework which clearly outlines the goals to be achieved so as to avoid gold plating of the policy at national or regional level;
Amendment 434 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Amendment 452 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the efforts of the Commission to establish programme design, implementation and control of an output-based approach, based on accurate and current science, in order to foster performance rather than compliance, while ensuring adequate monitoring via clearly defined, solid and measurable indicators at EU level, including an appropriate system of quality control and penalties;
Amendment 479 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to ensure that financial and performance control and audit functions are performed to the same high standard and under the same criteria across all Member States, irrespective of enhanced flexibility for Member States in programme design and management, and with a view, in particular, to ensuring a timely disbursement of funds across Member States to all eligible famers;
Amendment 542 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Reminds the Commission that the objectives of the common agricultural policy laid down in Article 39 TFEU are to increase agricultural productivity, to ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, to stabilise markets, to assure the availability of supplies and to ensure that supplies reach consumers at reasonable prices;
Amendment 586 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Acknowledges the current uncertainty which exists around the future CAP budget;
Amendment 616 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Believes that more targeted support for family farms is necessary and can be achieved by introducing a compulsory higher support rate for small farms; considers, moreover, that support for larger farms should be digressive, reflecting economies of scale, with the possibility for capping to be decided by the Member State; with the possibility for capping to be decided by the Member States; provided that the levels of such measure do not affect payments for public goods;
Amendment 735 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses the need for a fairer distribution of direct payments between Member States, which must take into account socio-economic differencindividual farm needs and incomes, different production costs and the amounts received by Member States under Pillar II;
Amendment 759 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Stresses that direct payments are there to support farmers in food production and protection of environmental and animal welfare standards;
Amendment 783 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Believes that, provided that a level playing field in the single market can be guaranteed, and under strict conditions, the possibility for Member States to use voluntary coupled support (VCS) payments should be maintained, as a tool to counteract specific difficulties, particularly those arising from the structural competitive disadvantage of less- favoured and mountainous regions, as well as those which are more temporary in nature and arise from a shift away from the old entitlement scheme, for example;
Amendment 895 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Underlines the importance of rural development, including the LEADER initiative, in supporting multi-functional agriculture and in fostering additional entrepreneurial activities and agri- business opportunities, in order to generate income from agri- tourism, and to secure community- supported agriculture and the provision of social services in rural areas;
Amendment 946 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls on the Commission to introduce a new and comprehensive legal framework which allows the integration of the various types of environmental actions at present, such as cross compliance, greening and the good agricultural and environmental conditions (GAEC) standards, as well as agri-environment measures (AEMs) for rural development, so that farmers can deliver effectively and with less bureaucracy on environmental care, biodiversity and climate achange mitigation, while ensuring that Member States have adequate control and taking into account local conditions;
Amendment 1021 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls on the Commission to foster innovation and modernisation in agriculture by supporting training and agricultural extension as a pre-condition in programme design and implementation in all Member States, while fostering the transfer of know-how and the exchange of best practice models between Member Statesin all Member States and believes that the principles underpinning precision farming can generate significant benefits for the environment, increase farmers' income, rationalise the use of agricultural machinery and significantly increase resource efficiency;
Amendment 1131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Insists on the critical need for the future CAP to support farmers more efficiently in order to cope with price and income volatility due to climate, bad weather, health and market risks, and unexpected high bills by creating additional incentives for flexible risk management and stabilisation tools while ensuring broad accesch are easily accessible for all farmers;
Amendment 1241 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Believes that while trade agreements are beneficial to the EU agricultural sector overall, and necessary for strengthening the EU’s position on the global agricultural market, they also pose a number of challenges that require reinforced safeguard mechanisms to ensure a level playing field between farmers in the EU and in the rest of the world;European production should not be undermined by inferior and substandard imports