Activities of Petros KOKKALIS related to 2021/2079(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
EU islands and cohesion policy (debate)
Opinions (1)
OPINION on islands and cohesion policy: current situation and future challenges
Amendments (8)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas agriculture on islands is hampered by their remote location, the small size of holdings, the dependence on energy from mainland, the limited diversity in production, the dependence on local markets, as well as by the climate crisis, the environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and athe lack of energy, fresh water supply and digital infrastructure;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. Whereas farmers in island regions face specific difficulties, especially decreased competitiveness, due to the fact that they have to bear high transport costs and cannot benefit from economies of scale, given that land is a scarce resource on many islands; whereas they often have to cope with difficult climatic and topographic conditions;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on the Commission to maintain appropriate funding, including through the programmes for the outermost regions of the Union (POSEI scheme) and smaller Aegean islands, to enhance agricultural competitiveness, ensure sustainable management of natural resources and support balanced territorial development on EU islands;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the need to strengthen both the integrated territorial development approach towards islands, such as integrated territorial investments and community-led local development, and initiatives such as those on se Smart vVillages and dEuropean Digital iInnovation hHubs with regard to islands in order to support sustainable agriculture and food production as well as agro-tourism;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that biodiversity on islands is characterized by unique biogeographic, phylogenetic and functional characteristics, hold a disproportionate amount of the world's biodiversity, and they have also experienced a disproportionate loss of it; Stresses that targeted regional policies and actions to protect and restore the unique biodiversity of islands as well as to preserve the scarce natural resources on them, such as soil and water, are required to safeguard their agricultural productivity and natural resources andsecure the island livelihoods;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Notes that island agricultural and food products are of unique quality due to islands' specific microclimatic and topographic conditions; calls for the creation of a quality label for island products; is of the view that this will increase competitiveness in particular of smaller islands and empower small farmers;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Member States to utilise all available tools under cohesion policy to reinforce the self-sustainability of islands, inter alia through the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, and make them an integral part of the transition towards sustainable food systems, thus turning geographical handicaps into opportunities; is of the view that promoting the role of islands in the sustainable food chain through the EU regional policy instruments could generate additional job opportunities and halve the depopulation trend in island regions;
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls for the Commission to promote island policies during regional planning processes to support sustainable agriculture, food production and agro- tourism; urges it also to assess the real cost of insularity; believes that the introduction of an "Insularity Clause" in EU policies is necessary and that it can be a criterion for the allocation of resources from the Structural Funds, while at the same time an impact assessment of EU initiatives and actions on the islands can be carried out.