Activities of Irène TOLLERET related to 2021/2254(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
A long-term vision for the EU's rural areas (debate)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on a long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas – towards stronger, connected, resilient and prosperous rural areas by 2040
Amendments (96)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas women are more likely than men to work in the informal economy and whereas their importance for the rural economy is not acknowledged; historically undervalued because of traditional gender stereotypes, such as the expectation that woman acts as the primary carer of children and adult dependants; whereas the gap between male and female employment is 3 percentage points higher in rural areas than in urban areas and many women have precarious contracts or play an ‘invisible role’ in rural societies, which may leave them exposed to vulnerable situations, such as no access to social protection or maternity benefits; whereas women in rural areas are more vulnerable to poverty and financial dependence on their partner, which represent strong barriers to their empowerment; whereas preliminary studies suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities between men and women, especially in terms of an increase in unpaid care work and work-life imbalance;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission’s presentation of its long-term vision for rural areas; emphasises that the development of rural areas must be kept high on the EU agenda, as rural areas are active actors in the EU’s green and digital transition;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas rural areas are affected by a reduction of population and young women are more likely to leave rural regions than young men; whereas this demographic trend, when coupled with a lack of connectivity, infrastructure and productivity challenges and low access to public services including education and care depriving women from numerous opportunities, can contribute to the lower attractiveness of rural areas as places to live and work;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas women perform more than one function; whereas women are enablers of therepresent a significant driving force for prosperity and social inclusion in rural areas, notably through entrepreneurship; whereas emerging opportunities of the green and digital transition, together with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the diffusion of teleworking, have brought renewed attention to rural areas and opened up new possibilities for women; whereas the consequences of the pandemic will further widen gender inequalities unless the economic recovery response and the Europe’s green and digital transformation are gender sensitive; whereas women are enablers of the transition to a greener society and economy;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Stresses the multidimensional nature of rural development, which goes beyond agriculture, and insists on the need to implement a rural proofing mechanism to assess the impact of EU legislative initiatives on rural areas;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Highlights the importance to strengthen the bottom-up approach to rural and local development, which is a vehicle for social innovation and capacity building, empowering rural citizens to take ownership of their area's development through the design and implementation of strategy and projects;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas only 30 % of farms across the EU are managed by womenthe number of women in farming has been slowly increasing in the recent years; whereas only 30 % of farms across the EU are managed by women; whereas this number hides significant differences in the representation of women in farming among Member States; whereas SMEs are predominant in rural regions;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas women living in rural areas experience barriers to access healthcare, especially sexual and reproductive health services, and to receive support when victims of gender- based violence; whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has a disproportionate impact on women and girls, especially those living in rural areas, resulting in an increase in domestic violence and discontinuation of services related to sexual and reproductive health;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Stresses the importance of synergies between different funding tools, such as EARDF, ERDF, ESF+ and EMFAF, to channel an adequate level of funding towards rural areas through a multi-fund approach; underlines the crucial role played by the Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) approach and regrets that, during the 2014-2020 programming period, only a quarter of local development projects carried out by local actors integrated more than a funding tool;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Highlights the valuable contribution to rural development delivered by actions under the Leader programme, co-financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, which aims to engage local actors in the design and delivery of strategies, decision-making and resource allocation for the development of their rural areas; calls on the Commission and the Member States to reinforce the Leader programme by guaranteeing a high level of autonomy of the Local Action Groups regarding their constitution (no top-down design of areas and villages to be regrouped in a LAG but complete autonomy to the villages to gather and join forces in a LAG) and their decision making, reducing the administrative burden on local authorities and simplifying the access, promoting the local ownership of community-led development projects, and encouraging participation in local action groups;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas gender equality is a basic value of the EU, recognised in the Treaties and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and should be an integral part of the preparation, implementation and evaluation of CAP interventions as laid down in Regulation (EU) 2021/21153, and in the preparation, implementation, monitoring reporting and evaluation of programmes of the cohesion policy as laid down in Regulation (EU) 1303/2013 and Regulation (EU)2021/1060;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines the fact that the main objective of the long-term vision should be to fight depopulation, ageing and rural abandonment, including through investment in infrastructure, ensuring efficient connectivity, including broadband connections, and the provision of services, including digital, as well as economic diversification, job creation and innovative mobility solutions; underlines the role of SMEs in achieving these objectives;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Amendment 48 #
Ab. whereas there has been significant improvement of the level of internet connectivity in the rural areas in the last decade; whereas significant differences among the Member States still persist; whereas in some Member States up to 25 % of the households located in the rural areas still do not have access to the internet 2a. _________________ 2a https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/ view/ISOC_CI_IN_H__custom_2784346/ default/table?lang=en
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Recital C d (new)
Recital C d (new)
Cd. whereas the standard of living is generally lower in rural than in urban areas, affecting in a disproportional way the most vulnerable groups such as migrant women, women from minority groups and women with disabilities, which continue to face an intersectional discrimination in key areas such as education, employment and health; whereas the number of migrant women moving into rural areas will highly increase in the next months due to the Ukraine’s invasion by Russia;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas women in rural areas are often under-represented in decision making bodies such as agricultural cooperatives, trade unions and municipal governments; whereas increasing women’s representation in such bodies is highly important.
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas access to water services, sanitation, road connectivity, healthcare, education, broadband internet and other basic services is essential for the development of the rural areas; whereas households in some rural areas still do not have access to essential basic services.
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Recital C e (new)
Recital C e (new)
Ce. whereas women in rural areas are often under-represented indecision- making bodies such as agricultural cooperatives, trade unions and municipal governments; whereas increasing women’s representation in such bodies is highly important;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Recital C f (new)
Recital C f (new)
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion
Recital C g (new)
Recital C g (new)
Cg. whereas achieving gender equality is key to reducing local and regional, and economic and social disparities, as well as for ensuring the long-term competitiveness and fair, inclusive and sustainable development of the EU’s rural areas;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses the importance of ensuring gender mainstreaming in rural development policy; calls for the exchange of best practices between Member States, in particular as regards the professional status of assisting spouses and partners in agriculture; calls for the work of women in farming activities, especially the work of assisting spouses and partners in agriculture, to be fully recognised by granting them legal recognition; stresses the need for women working in farms to have access to social security rights such as maternity leave and pension rights;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Stresses the crucial role of cultural initiatives in rural areas in terms of social cohesion, territorial attractiveness and economic dynamism; regrets the lack of specific support for these initiatives in the various regional funds; calls for these cultural projects to be supported, in particular via the EAFRD, the ERDF and specific calls for projects, in co- construction with rural actors;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights the diversity of rural areas across the EU; recalls that rural areas close to urban centres, in remote areas or mountainous zoneareas, and in outermost regions face different challenges requiring targeted solutions, adapted to their specific circumstances, constraints and opportunities;
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Highlights the opportunities that the green transition and green economy can provide in increasing rural resilience to natural disasters, climate change and economic crises; stresses the importance of rural areas in ensuring food and energy self-sufficiency and renewable raw materials in Europe; points to the potential of the bio- and circular economy and nature services brought by rural areas;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights the diversity of rural areas across the EU; recalls that rural areas close to urban centres, in remote areas or mountainous zones, and in outermost regions and in sparsely populated areas face different challenges requiring targeted solutions;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Highlights the opportunities that the green transition and green economy can provide in terms of job opportunities, in increasing rural resilience to natural disasters, climate change and economic crises and in bringing renewed attention to rural areas;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that policies and actions at EU level combined with national and regional ones are key to securing the prosperity and well-being of rural European citizens, as well as tackling the challenges they face, namely population decline and ageing, fewer quality job opportunities, a lack of access to high- quality services of general interest, climate and environmental pressures, lower connectivity and limited access to innovhigher risk of poverty and social exclusion, fewer quality job opportunities, climate and environmental pressures, lower connectivity, limited access to innovation and in many cases a lack of access to basic infrastructure and services covering health, education or transport; stresses the importance of urgent measures at both EU and national level to tackle these challenges, provide more opportunities especially for youth, increase the attractiveness of rural areas and reverse the downward spiral of demographic decline and workforce migration; .
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that policies and actions at EU level combined with national and, regional and local ones are key to securing the prosperity and well-being of rural European citizens, as well as tackling the challenges they face, namely population decline and ageing, fewer quality job opportunities, a lack of access to high- quality services of general interest such as access to water services, sanitation, road connectivity, healthcare, education, broadband internet and other basic services, climate and environmental pressures, lower connectivity and limited access to innovation;
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Highlights, furthermore, the potential of the ecological transition and the green economy to create a link between the economy and ecology by creating new jobs in rural areas particularly affected by unemployment, especially in the outermost regions;
Amendment 83 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls for the needs of women in rural areas to be addressed through appropriate – and where necessary peripatetic – healthcare, including itinerant medicine solutions, such as equipped buses offering women living in rural areas the possibility to undergo preventive screening test or consultation with gynaecologists; stresses the need to strongly improve the access to sexual and reproductive health and rights and maternity care by deploying telemedicine, developing local perinatal centres and ensuring access to information; calls for the needs of women in rural areas to be addressed through appropriate childcare and care for the elderly, thereby promoting women’s social security rights, including maternity leave or pension rights, and women’s access to available EU funds;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that policies and actions at EU level combined with local, national and regional ones are key to securing the prosperity and well-being of rural European citizens, as well as tackling the challenges they face, namely population decline and ageing, fewer quality job opportunities, a lack of access to high- quality services of general interest, climate and environmental pressures, lower connectivity and limited access to innovationopportunities for innovation and access to technological developments;
Amendment 84 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Believes that connections between rural and urban areas must be addressed in a complementary manner in order to implement rural strategies and action plans accordingly; underlines the importance of partnerships across rural areas and remote areas in particular as well as cooperation between rural areas across national borders; emphasises the importance of fighting the digital divide between urban and rural areas, especially as regards high- speed broadband connectivity and the promotion of digital skills;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Underlines that demographic evolution within rural areas is crippled by population decline; notes that ageing population and youth rural exodus are examples of issues which need to be addressed while carrying out actions for rural areas;
Amendment 90 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls on Member States to develop prevention and awareness-raising actions to combat gender-based violence, including in schools, ensure access to information on facilities for helping the victims, develop shelters for victims and preventive intervention and treatment programmes for perpetrators; stresses the need to reinforce vocational training of agents working in law enforcement and public administration and taking care of victims of gender-based violence; urges to promote economic and financial empowerment of women victims of violence through the integration in the labour market and social assistance;
Amendment 90 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Underlines the importance of quality, affordable and safe public transports connecting rural areas; stresses the need for EU cohesion funds to support the improvement of connectivity and mobility solutions in rural areas;
Amendment 93 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Stresses the importance of entrepreneurship, social economy and social innovation including the silver economy, especially when it comes to implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights in rural areas; calls on Member States and the Commission to boost awareness and to facilitate easier access to finance for entrepreneurs and self- employed in rural areas; encourages Member States and regional and local authorities to make use of the existing European Structural Funds to especially target and promote women entrepreneurs and self-employed women;
Amendment 94 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Highlights the potential of rural areas as spaces to foster inclusion and integration of the most vulnerable groups of women with specific needs, such as women with disabilities, migrant women, including seasonal migrants, refugees and minorities, victims of gender-based violence, women with little or no training and single mothers, etc.; encourages Members States to design and implement specific measures to promote their training and employment and safeguard their fundamental rights; stresses the important role of local and national authorities in ensuring the inclusion and integration of these women; insists especially on the necessity to prepare an immediate response to the arrival of Ukrainian women with children in order to ensure their quick and easy integration;
Amendment 96 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Underlines the need to strongly improve access to healthcare in rural areas through appropriate and, where necessary, itinerant medicine solutions and services, such as equipped buses offering citizens living in rural areas the possibility to undergo preventive screening tests or consultations;
Amendment 97 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11 b. Highlights the potential of rural areas as spaces to foster inclusion and integration of the most vulnerable groups with specific needs, such as persons with disabilities, migrants, including seasonal migrants, refugees and minorities; encourages Members States to design and implement specific measures to promote their training and employment and safeguard their fundamental rights; insists especially on the necessity to prepare an immediate response to the arrival of Ukrainian refugees in rural areas in order to ensure their quick and easy integration;
Amendment 100 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Highlights the diversity of rural areas and the crucial importance of tailor- made territorial approaches in implementing the long-term vision, primarily in less developed, remote, sparsely populated areas and outermost regions.
Amendment 104 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote digital and hybrid education, reskilling and upskilling of women in rural areas and to further develop access to specific education programmes and quality jobs in order to enhance their potential and to counteract the moving out of high-qualified women from rural areas; calls on the Commission to continue supporting Member States’ work on improving the availability, accessibility and affordability of quality education through investments from the European Social Fund Plus, the European Regional Development Fund, the InvestEU programme and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, paying special attention to people in vulnerable situations;
Amendment 110 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on the Commission and Member States to find adequate responses to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic driven by the current transition to the more digital and greener Europe, especially in term of job opportunities; stresses that Member States should engage a reflection on new skills development and digital inclusion of women, encouraging the remote working possibilities in order to permit the access more easily to high quality jobs while living in rural areas;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Draws attention to the growing discontent among rural populations who feel their needs are insufficiently considered in political decision-making and who feel underrepresented, which creates fertile ground for civic and political disengagement and could lead to the development of various forms of extremisms; believes that in some Member States, elections in recent years have showcased that the rural urban divide is growing larger and it should compel public officials to address this feeling of economic and social detachment;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses that rural areas are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of crisis, such as the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine but are also capable of offering new opportunities in response to such crisis; notes that, by virtue of their inherent characteristics and highly valuable resources, rural areas convey solutions to those crises;
Amendment 119 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Commission and Members States in coordination with local and regional authorities to better implement gender mainstreaming in their transport policies; underlines the importance of quality, affordable and safe public transports; stresses the need for EU cohesion funds to support the improvement of connectivity and mobility solutions in rural areas;
Amendment 123 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Calls on Member States and the Commission to boost awareness and to facilitate easier access to finance for women entrepreneurs and self-employed in rural areas including alternative forms of financing making sure finance is available and reach the women entrepreneurs and self-employed; encourages Member States and regional and local authorities to make use of the existing European Structural Funds to target and promote women entrepreneurs and self-employed women; stresses the need for awareness-raising and information campaigns regarding existing and future EU funding possibilities for women entrepreneurs;
Amendment 130 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to systematically collect gender-disaggregated data and take the gender dimension into account when designing, implementing and evaluating policies and programmes in the field of rural development and highlights the importance of gender impact assessments for the design of such proposals in order to better achieve the goals of gender mainstreaming in rural areas;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Acknowledges that one of the main challenges that SMEs face, particularly these operating in rural and remote areas, is the lack of skilled workers; notes that the accelerating evolution of the labour market is exacerbating long-standing skills shortages; calls on the Member States to strengthen their up-skilling and re-skilling initiatives and programmes in order to prepare citizens to respond to the labour market needs and address the shortages that the SMEs are facing and that hinder their competitiveness.
Amendment 135 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4d. Highlights the valuable contribution to the promotion of gender equality in rural areas delivered by actions under the Leader programme, co- financed from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, which aims to engage local actors in the design and delivery of strategies, decision-making and resource allocation for the development of their rural areas; calls on the Commission and the Member States to reinforce the Leader programme by reducing the administrative burden on local authorities and simplifying the access, promoting the local ownership of community-led development projects, and encouraging women’s participation in local action groups;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Underlines that rural areas can be the scene of significant population variations such as seasonal ones related to tourism;
Amendment 138 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)
Paragraph 4 e (new)
4e. Insists on the need to improve the participation of women in decision- making in rural areas by means of training activities designed to encourage their presence in areas and sectors in which they are under-represented, and by awareness-raising campaigns on the importance of the active involvement of women in management positions; calls on Member States to promote gender equality in the various management and representation bodies to foster equal participation in all types of agricultural organisations, associations and public institutions;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to systematically collect gender-disaggregated data and take the gender dimension into account when designing, implementing and evaluating policies, such as the Common Agricultural Policy, in order to better achieve the goals of gender mainstreaming in rural areas;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Underlines that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are essential for achieving economic growth as they are a major source for generating employment, creating wealth and alleviating poverty, particularly in rural and remote areas; a stronger support to SMEs is also a means to maintain and attract skilled workers in rural areas;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Insists on the need to improve the participation of women in decision making in rural areas by means of training activities designed to encourage their presence in areas and sectors in which they are under-represented, and by awareness-raising campaigns on the importance of the active involvement of women in management positions; therefore calls on Member States to promote gender equality in the various management and representation bodies to foster equal participation in all types of agricultural organisations, associations and public institutions, and asks for the work of women in farming activities, especially the work of assisting spouses and partners in agriculture, to be fully recognised by granting them legal recognition and full access to social security rights.
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Is deeply concerned that in some rural areas, people with disabilities still tend to face more challenges than their counterparts in urban areas; calls on the Commission and on the Member States that have not already done so to dedicate special attention to the vulnerable groups, living in the rural areas, such as people with disabilities and ensure that their special needs are being addressed; calls on the Commission to further harmonise practices between Member States in terms of inclusion of people with disabilities;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5d. Recalls that different levels of access to water services and sanitation persist between Member States; recalls that in 2019 most countries reported that less than 1% of their population were still living in households without a bath, a shower or a flushing toilet while in some countries this share remains comparatively high1a; _________________ 1a Eurostat data
Amendment 144 #
5e. Underlines that rural areas are affected by territorial inequalities compared to urban areas; underlines that those inequalities can take the shape of weaker access to quality housing and an efficient transport network; underlines the importance of favouring quality housing for rural area populations by rendering it more independent and resilient and thereby improving their standards of living, for instance, by means of enhanced energy efficiency; underlines the importance of supporting and developing an integrated transportation system which would improve the synchronisation between multiple modes of transportation;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Agrees on the need for a common, EU-wide, functional definition of rural areas, and urges the Commission to quickly develop and operationalise such a definition while taking into consideration their diversity; invites, in that sense, the Commission to propose common indicators for all Member States while leaving them in charge of setting relevant thresholds to identify those functional rural areas; notes that this definition could be used to compare and inform the evolutions of European rural areas, or allow a more targeted implementation of policies and measures among those territories;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Agrees on the need for a common, EU-wide, functional definition of functional rural areas, and urges the Commission to quickly develop and operationalise such a definition, while taking into account the diversity of rural areas and the research done so far in this respect;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Supports the development of a Rural Pact; considers that it needs concrete objectives, deliverables, governance and monitoring systems, and institutional responsibilities; this Rural Pact should serve the Commission as an opportunity to facilitate the sharing of good practices between rural areas and help them employ the tools at their disposal;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Supports the development of a Rural Pact; considers that it needs concrete objectives, deliverables, governance and monitoring systems, and clear institutional responsibilities;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Calls on Member States to adopt national rural agendas; calls on Member States to use those national rural agendas to define the method, the calendar and the means to address the issues faced by rural areas;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Highlights that many rural areas still lack access to basic infrastructure and services such as health, education or internet, which generates further poverty and social exclusion and hampers their development. Calls on the Commission and Member States to increase efforts to improve and develop infrastructure and services in rural areas.
Amendment 198 #
12. Insists that rural citizens must benefit, like any other citizen, from equitable conditions for achieving their professional, social and personal goals, with a particular focus on more vulnerable groups, thereby effectively upholding the European Pillar of Social Rights; stresses that targeted interventions fostering effective generational renewal are essential; importance must be given to the gender dimension in rural areas, to boost women's involvement and innovative spirit in addressing rural community challenges, therefore ensuring the implementation of the European Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025.
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Insists that rural citizenthe population living in the rural areas must benefit, like any other citizen, from equitable conditions for achieving their professional, social and personal goals, with a particular focus on more vulnerable groups, thereby effectively upholding; Insists that the European Pillar of Social Rights must be effectively upheld; stresses that targeted interventions fostering effective generational renewal are essential;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Underlines that the European Green Deal and the Digital transformation can open up new opportunities in rural areas and a new dynamic for a more resilient future, while ensuring a just and inclusive transition and numerous possibilities for sustainable jobs;
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. underlines that it is important not to set the preservation of biodiversity against the management of large carnivores; invites the Commission to advance on this topic which is too often left aside and minimized, which is detrimental to the social link; calls on the Commission to ensure a common management of large carnivores while concerting all the concerned actors;
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Highlights that farmers in remote and rural areas, particularly small farmers, still do not have sufficient access to technologies due to different reasons, such as not fully developed infrastructure and connectivity, limited access to funding, not being equipped with the necessary digital skills; points out that these issues should be addresses at the relevant level.
Amendment 254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. invites the Commission to encourage a discussion on large carnivores with rural actors, to promote knowledge sharing especially in regions in which large carnivores have previously been absent for centuries and to inform stakeholders and farmers of financing possibilities for preventive measures against attacks on livestock; calls on the Commission to ensure a cross border and cross regional monitoring of large carnivores to promote coordinated approaches across Member States;
Amendment 262 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Stresses that digital technologies have the potential to increase the attractiveness of the agricultural sector for young farmers, to increase its productivity, to make the sector more efficient, sustainable, and competitive; underlines, in this regard, the importance of furthering the adoption of new technologies and bridge the existing digital divide;
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Stresses that diversification of and innovation in the rural economy based on local potential and specificities are crucial to drawing opportunities from the digital and green transition; calls on the Member States to put in place measures to support the fair transition and diversification of the rural economy;
Amendment 309 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Highlights the central role of rural areas in the transition to a low-carbon economy; stresses that initiatives in rural areas, such as renewable energy infrastructure, sustainable agriculture, slow tourism or environmental services must contribute effectively to the economic and social vitality of such areas;
Amendment 313 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Highlights the central role of rural areas in the transition to a low-carbon circular economy; stresses that initiatives in rural areas, such as renewable energy infrastructure, must contribute effectively to the economic and social vitality of such areas;
Amendment 318 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Highlights that the production of renewable energy can significantly contribute to the development of rural areas and improve their climate, environmental and economic perspectives;
Amendment 324 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17b. Stresses that sustainable, profitable, clean and efficient farms and enterprises could significantly benefit from renewable energy sources and sustainably produced biofuels; calls on the Commission and on the Member States to enhance the production and use of renewable energy for enterprises located in rural areas, also by means of identifying the main practical barriers and the new and best practices and tools that are already applied; stresses that it has the potential to improve the energy independence of the enterprises and local public authorities located in rural areas, reduce their energy bills and further diversify and increase their income; brings forward the REPOWER EU communication, that focuses on increasing the share of biomethane production in EU to 35 bcm by 2030, stresses that this increase will not be possible without intense investment in the infrastructure but highlights that it can bring many opportunities to rural areas;
Amendment 349 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Stresses that the digital transition brings about new opportunities for rural areas, which are only accessible if there is adequate, stable and accessible broadband coverage; underlines that many households, living in the rural areas across the EU, still do not have internet access; warns of the risks of the widening of the rural digital gap as a result of the lack of 5G coverage, and calls on Member States to mobilise all available instruments to prevent it;
Amendment 351 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Stresses that the digital transition brings about new opportunities for rural areas, which are only accessible if there is adequate, stable and accessible broadband coverage; warns of the risks of the widening of the rural digital gap as a result of the lack of Internet access including 5G coverage, and calls on Member States to mobilise all available instruments to prevent it;
Amendment 357 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Draws attention to the fact that the comparative lack of digital skills in rural areas can preclude rural communities from benefiting from the opportunities of digitalisation; calls for measures that ensure and hinder the development of SMEs; calls for measures that ensure opportunities for the development of appropriate digital skills, digital inclusion and support an enabling environment for rural digital innovation;
Amendment 368 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Calls on the Commission, Member States and local authorities to promote interactions between urban and rural areas; underlines that urban and rural areas would benefit from an improved cooperation; underlines that it would be opportune to develop town-twinning and alliance mechanisms between urban and rural areas;
Amendment 369 #
20a. Notes that the silver economy is expected to contribute more than €5.7trn to Europe’s economy by 2025, offering abundance of opportunities for the rural areas, their population and economy; calls on the EC and the Member States to develop strategies to effectively harness the benefits that the silver economy will offer.
Amendment 389 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Highlights that Smart City technologies are increasingly present in the population daily living; Stresses that Smart City technologies provide efficient city services, as a central instrument of receiving various services for residents (healthcare, energy and water supply, urban infrastructure, public services transportation etc.); calls on the Commission and on the Member States to dedicate sufficient financial resources for the development of Smart City technologies, taking into account their significant added value for the development of the rural areas, improving citizens' standard of living and the business environment for the SMEs.
Amendment 397 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Urges Member States to address the specific challenges of rural areas, their communities and the SMEs operating there, during the implementation of the current multiannual financial framework programmes and to provide the investments needed for social inclusion and, job creation, and innovation in order to foster competitiveness and enable a just digital and green transition and revive these areas;
Amendment 408 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Regrets the persistent obstacles to the multi-fund approach, which hamper the deployment of integrative approaches in rural areas; calls on the Commission to improve synergies and coordination between EU funding instruments such as the Common Agricultural Policy, the Cohesion Policy and other relevant sources, and with national instruments, and to pursue simplification, in particular for smaller projects and micro-financing, which are key for rural areas; highlights the importance of using rural development programmes in synergy with the programmes of other sectors, such as tourism, environmental protection and culture.
Amendment 422 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Stresses the role that all EU policies and funds, both shared and those under direct management, must play in supporting rural areas and highlights that the absence of an integrated approach to funding mechanisms can make it more difficult to achieve the synergies needed for a successful rural development in the EU;
Amendment 424 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Amendment 436 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Invites the Commission to adapt the state aid Framework to give Member States the opportunity to help very specific rural areas where population density is very low based on precedents that already exist in some regions;
Amendment 439 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 b (new)
Paragraph 25 b (new)
25b. underlines the success of payments for areas with natural constraints provided by the CAP in terms of economic dynamics and preservation of sustainable activities in those areas; stresses the importance to maintain those payments in the future too;
Amendment 447 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26a. Stresses the importance of short supply chains and organic agriculture for the development of rural areas and strengthening their economic and social development; encourages the Commission and Member States to promote these agricultural models alongside other sustainable models;
Amendment 450 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Calls for more community-based policyand less centralized policy and support measures design, involving local actors, authorities and civil society, and insists therefore that they must play an active role from decision-making to policy implementation and evaluation;
Amendment 454 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Calls for more community-based policy design, involving local actors, authorities and civil society, and insists therefore that they must play an active role from developing policies, decision-making to policy implementation and evaluation;
Amendment 459 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. Stresses the importance of strengthening the bottom-up approach to rural and local development and the valuable contribution to rural development made by Leader actions; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure a high level of autonomy for local action groups in terms of their constitution (no top-down design of areas and villages to be regrouped into a local action group, but full autonomy) and decision-making, reducing the administrative burden on local authorities and simplifying access, promoting local ownership of community-led development projects and encouraging participation in local action groups.
Amendment 464 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Recalls that some projects for the benefit of rural areas are not implemented because of a lack of dedicated skills or human resources in those areas; invites the Commission to support capacity building in rural areas which lack capabilities and dedicated skills to implement relevant projects; stresses that, going beyond project design for rural areas, a particular effort should be placed into their implementation;
Amendment 478 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Recalls that the future of rural areasrural areas and their prosperity is of paramount importance for Europe’s food security and food autonomy, as the recent COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have clearly demonstrated; stresses that they will be even more important in future, taking into account the general decline of the number of farmers and the aging of the population;
Amendment 483 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30a. Underlines the importance of generational renewal and the facilitation of access to land for the sustainability and prosperity of the sector; highlights the important role that young farmers play in modernizing EU agriculture and creating more opportunities in rural areas; calls on the Commission and on Member States to develop targeted policies to encourage generational renewal and remove all existing barriers for access to land and funding, as well as to remove the administrative burdens facilitating further development of the sector; stresses that, given the general decline of the number of farmers and the aging of the population, young farmers will play an even more important role in the future;