61 Amendments of Mairead McGUINNESS related to 2018/2037(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 a (new)
Citation 2 a (new)
– having regard to Articles 40 and 42 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) establishing a Common Market Organisation in agricultural products and the extent to which rules on competition apply to production of and trade in agricultural products,
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. whereas the CAP has progressively integrated environmental objectives by ensuring that its rules are compatible, and farmers comply, with the environmental requirements laid down in Union legislation and by promoting the development of sustainable farming practices that preserve the environment and biodiversity;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
B b. whereas water and agriculture are intrinsically linked and that the sustainable management of water in the agricultural sector is essential to guarantee good quality and sufficient food production and ensure the preservation of water resources;
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
B c. whereas only economically healthy farms will be capable of delivering on EU environmental and climate objectives;
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the CAP, as a sectorial and common policy, should encourage and strengthenmust be the cornerstone of the reconciliation between environmental and climate objectives and the economic sustainability of the farming sector by developing the contribution from each farmer makes towards meetingto environmental challenges, and should promote the transition towards an agriculture combining economic wiby rewarding farmers who already adopted or wish to move towards practices and production models combining both environmental and economic performance standards;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the CAP, as a sectorial and common policy, should encourage and strengthen the contribution each farmer makes towards meeting environmental challenges, and should promote thea greater transition towards an agriculture combining economic with environmental performance standardal model that combines both economic and environmental performance standards; whereas there is a potential of conservation agriculture practices to achieve greater environmental performance in the CAP, while also returning greater margins to farmers by reducing production costs;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas over the years the CAP has undergone regular re-programming in line with new challenges, but another step in this continuous process of modernisation and simplification, building on previous reforms, is now necessary to tackle the challenges of food security, environmental protection and climate change and to increase EU added value;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas EU agriculture is at a turning point from an economic, technological and environmental perspective and that a strong and renewed ambition at EU level needs to provide the EU agricultural sector visibility and certainty with regards to the challenges arising from the impacts of Brexit and of the multilateral and bilateral trade agenda;
Amendment 107 #
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 level, and flexibility for farmers, without adding new constraints on Member States and thus a new layer of complexity, which would lead to delays in the implementation of national strategies;
Amendment 124 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls for a CAP that has its top priority thesufficiently funded CAP that facilitiates the greater transition of each European farms towards an undertaking combiningboth increased economic withand environmental performance; standardsresses that the CAP budget must be maintained or increased in the next MFF in order to achieve greater economic and environmental ambition;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas it is essential to provide flexible and responsive tools to help sensitive and strategic sectors cope with structural changes, such as the potential impacts of Brexit or of approved bilateral trade agreements with the EU’s main partners;
Amendment 163 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls for the integrity of the first pillarUnderlines that the first pillar is the main income support scheme for farmers and the guarantee of ensuring a level playing field within the Single Market; calls therefore to be maintained, built as it is on enhanced cross-compliance of support measures calibrated to maximise the the integrity of the first pillar, built on an enhanced cross-compliance encompassing the various types of environmental supports, such as the current cross compliance, greening and the good agricultural and environmental conditions (GAEC) standards, which should be defined at EU level in their measures and results expected for each farmer;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas it is essential to ensure a fair standard of living for farmers across regions and Member States, affordable prices for citizens and consumers, and access to quality food and healthy diets, while delivering on the commitments for environmental care, climate action, and animal and plant health and welfare;
Amendment 182 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Emphasises that farmers must be rewarded for maintaining and protecting existing habitats; is concerned that the requirement to keep land in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) to be eligible for CAP payments may lead to the destruction of natural habitats; points out that this undermines efforts to enhance biodiversity and environmental protection, and therefore reiterates the need to reward farmers for habitat maintenance and protection;
Amendment 188 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for a renovated second pillar that is, less complex and more efficient, focused on truly incentive territorial and sector development policies that place agro-environmental initiatives,, putting investment, training, research and innovation at the core of local issuesits core while allowing Member States to adopt specific approaches to reflect local conditions and needs, including the compensation of extra-costs related to natural handicaps and of more ambitious agro-environmental-climate scheme;
Amendment 201 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Calls for strengthening the promotion of resource efficiency in the future CAP, including water and encourages the empowerment of farmers to take informed decision on water and nutrients requirements thanks to smart technologies, adequate practices and direct access to information, such as satellite data;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the emergence of new challenges, such as increasing global trade, is necessitating a common level playing field based on fair and sustainable conditions for the global exchange of goods and services as well as renewed and efficient trade defence mechanisms, within the framework of the WTO and in accordance with existing EU social, economic and environmental standards, which should be promoted;
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas the CAP has progressively integrated environmental objectives by ensuring that its rules are compatible with and farmers comply to the environmental requirements laid down in Union legislation and promote sustainable farming practices that preserve the environment and biodiversity;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
Ka. whereas the CAP must develop a real ambition to reconcile environmental and climate objectives and the economic sustainability of the farming sector as only economically healthy farms will be capable to deliver on EU environmental and climate objectives;
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
La. whereas the European Court of Auditors has identified significant shortcomings in the implementation of Pillar II, especially the long approval process as well as the complex and bureaucratic nature of the Rural Development Programmes;
Amendment 299 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M a (new)
Recital M a (new)
Ma. whereas less-favoured areas, such as mountainous and outermost regions, should continue to be compensated by the CAP for the extra costs associated with their specific constraints in order to maintain farming activity in such areas;
Amendment 306 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M a (new)
Recital M a (new)
Ma. whereas it is important to recognise the role of women and young people in rural areas;
Amendment 316 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas it is essential to ensure fair competition within the single market, within the sector and with other players in the food supply chain, both up and downstream, and to further strengthen incentives to prevent risks and crises with active management tools to be deployed at sectorial level and by public authorities;
Amendment 339 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q
Recital Q
Q. whereas Parliament must play a comprehensive role in setting a clear policy framework to maintain common ambition at European level and democratic debate on the strategic issues which have an impact on the everyday lives of all citizens when it comes to the use of natural resources including water, soil and air, the quality of our food and the modernisation of agricultural practices;
Amendment 362 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the intention to simplify and modernise the CAP, but emphasises that for the benefit of farmers, but emphasises that the principles set out in the Treaty of Rome, the integrity of the single market and a truly common policy must be the overriding priorities of reform;
Amendment 406 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers that subsidiarity for Member States should only be granted within a common set of rules and tools agreed at EU level, understood as a coherent room for manoeuvre and reasonable level of flexibility, should only be granted within a common set of rules, basic standards, tools and financial allocations agreed at EU level by the co-legislator as part of a uniform 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 423 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Considers that in a view of streamlining national choices taken within the framework of the EU-defined tool box available under Pillar I and II, Member States should design their own coherent and performance-based national strategy aiming at delivering on EU objectives in due respect of the rules and principles of the EU single market;
Amendment 439 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses that the European Commission in the process of assessing, approving and/or monitoring the implementation of the CAP by Member States, shall commit itself to strictly respect the political agreement and the objectives set by the co-legislators without adding extra layers of rules and policy objectives;
Amendment 463 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Recognises that the new delivery model will require fine tuning and amending over several years, ensuring that farmers are not penalised as a result of the change to an output based model;
Amendment 572 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Considers that the current CAP architecture can only deliver its objectives if sufficiently funded; calls, therefore, for the CAP budget to be maintained or increased in the next MFF at at least the current level in order to achieve the ambitions of a revised and efficient CAP beyond 2020;
Amendment 578 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Stresses that the CAP budget should be adapted to future needs and challenges, like those derived from the impacts of Brexit and of free-trade agreements adopted by the EU with its main trading partners;
Amendment 591 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Considers that the development of new EU policies and objectives must not be to the detriment of the CAP resources;
Amendment 630 #
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 diegressive, reflecting economies of scale, with the possibility for capping to be decided by the Member Statepayments;
Amendment 792 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Believes that the Single Common Market Organisation’s sectorial schemes, especially the operational programmes in the Fruits and Vegetable sector, have proven their effectiveness in enhancing the competitiveness and the structuration of the targeted sectors as well as improving their sustainability;
Amendment 804 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Calls on the Commission to allow Member States to design similar sectorial and/or territorial schemes to support sectors facing difficulties arising from structural changes in international trade or in the socioeconomic conditions within the Member State (Brexit for example);
Amendment 820 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Recalls that generational renewal is a challenge faced by famers in many Member States and that each national strategy must therefore address this issue through a comprehensive approach, including top-ups in Pillar I and targeted measures in Pillar II, as well as by means of new financial instruments and national measures, in order to incentivise famers to pass on their farming operation promoting succession planning, facilitating and encouraging collaborative arrangements —such as partnerships, shared farming, contract rearing and leasing between old and young farmers;
Amendment 826 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Recalls that generational renewal is a challenge faced by famers in many Member States and that each national strategy must therefore address this issue through a comprehensive approach, including top-ups in Pillar I and targeted measures in Pillar II, including the introduction of mandatory start-up aid for young farmers, as well as by means of new financial instruments and national measures, in order to incentivise farmers to pass on their farming operations;
Amendment 849 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Considers that in order to effectively reach the objective of generational renewal, the European Commission should reintroduce an exit scheme, allowing old farmers to retire and young farmers to enter the sector;
Amendment 928 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls on the Commission to introduce a new and comprehensivsimplified cross- compliance lregal framework which allows the integration ofime encompassing the various types of environmental actions at present, such as the current cross compliance, greening and the good agricultural and environmental conditions (GAEC) standards, as well a; stresses that this regime should be designed at EU level and clearly lay out what the measures and results are expected from farmers; considers that Pillar II’s agri- environment measures (AEMs) for rural developmshould be simplified, more targeted and efficient, so that farmers can deliver effectively and with less bureaucracy on environmental care, biodiversity and climate action, while ensuring that Member States have adequate control and taking into account local conditions;
Amendment 954 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Considers that the CAP needs to reconcile environmental ambition and competitiveness of farming;
Amendment 968 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17b. Calls therefore on the Commission to introduce a new European incentive scheme instead of the first pillar’s green payments to support farmers who already adopted or wish to move towards environmentally sustainable and economically rewarding practices and production models (e.g. organic farming, conservation agriculture, integrated farming, precision farming and digitalised agriculture...);
Amendment 980 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 c (new)
Paragraph 17 c (new)
17c. Stresses that such an eco-scheme should be simple and inclusive while defining under which conditions relevant practices and production models are eligible and how certification schemes controlled by public authorities could be used;
Amendment 982 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 d (new)
Paragraph 17 d (new)
17d. Adds that Member States in cooperation with the European Commission should also be able to design equivalence measures in their national strategies;
Amendment 988 #
18. Believes that this new framework should be underpinned by the possible allocation of a minimum amount of the total available budget to AEMs, including organic agriculture, support for biodiversity, nutrient management planning and genetic diversity in animals and plants;
Amendment 1040 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Considers that support to direct investment, training and innovation should be better targeted to the dual demands of economic and environmental performance, and increased via national top-ups if farmers engage in this approach;
Amendment 1059 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Demands that action be taken to address the serious problem of farm accidents, which result in injuries and fatalities on EU farms, via measures in Pillar II to support investment in safety measures and training;
Amendment 1069 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 b (new)
Paragraph 19 b (new)
19b. Stresses that the CAP should promote the use of financial instruments and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) to all farms and used to provide access to finance for bigger investments and projects;
Amendment 1109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Draws attention to the possibility of introducing the Voluntary Milk Supply Reduction Scheme under the CMO;
Amendment 1115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 b (new)
Paragraph 20 b (new)
20b. Stresses that the attractiveness of the European Risk Management Toolbox (insurance, income stabilisation tools and mutual funds) included in the CAP has been strengthened by the Omnibus regulation;
Amendment 1123 #
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, health and market risks, by creating additional incentives for flexiblethe development and the use of such risk management and stabiliszation tools while ensuring broad access and compatibility with existing national schemes;
Amendment 1163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Insists on the necessity of strengthening the position of producers within the food supply chain, in particular by guaranteeing them a fair share of the added value, by fostering inter-sectoral cooperation, and strengthening transparency in the markets and crisis prevention;
Amendment 1193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 b (new)
Paragraph 22 b (new)
22b. Stresses that, based on the provisions obtained in the Omnibus regulation to rebalance the bargaining power within the food supply chain, farmers should be further incentivised to organise and use such new collective possibilities provided by farmers’ organisations;
Amendment 1194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 c (new)
Paragraph 22 c (new)
22c. Stresses that the future CAP should also foster the development of economic organisations of the agricultural sector, both vertical and horizontal cooperation,, and continue to strengthen transparency in the markets and crisis prevention tools;
Amendment 1195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 d (new)
Paragraph 22 d (new)
22d. Considers that, based on the lessons drawn on the functioning of the diverse EU Market observatories (Milk, Meat, Sugar & Crops), such tools should be extended to the sectors that are not already covered and further developed to offer reliable data and forecasts to the market operators in order to deliver early warning in case of market disturbances;
Amendment 1196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 e (new)
Paragraph 22 e (new)
22e. Stresses that the historical market management tools of the CAP (public intervention and private storage) no longer have sufficient efficiency in a global economy context;
Amendment 1198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls on the Commission to allow and indeed encourage – drawing on the lessons learnt during the last market crises particularly in the dairy sector – activethe complementary use of innovative market and crisis management instruments, such as voluntary sector agreements to manage, and if appropriate reduce, supply in quantitative terms among producers, producers organisations, farmers’ associations and processors, and to examine the possibility of extending such instruments to other sectors;
Amendment 1221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls for an in-depth review of the current crisis reserve mechanism in order to create an independent financial instrumentworkable and independent EU fund for agricultural crisis exempt from the budgetary principle of annuality, so as to permit budgetary transfers from one year to the next, thereby enabling quick and effective prevention actions and responses to crisis situations, including those involving animal and plant health, disease- related issues and food safety; Insists that this renewed EU fund for agricultural crisis should be used to complement the post-Omnibus European Risk Management Toolbox in case of severe crisis;
Amendment 1248 #
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 reinforcneed to be tackled, safeguard mechanismsuch as respect of EU sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards, to ensure a level playing field between farmers in the EU and in the rest of the world;
Amendment 1254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Calls on the Commission to review the current safeguard mechanisms available within the SCMO, which should play a preventive role for sensitive sectors based on reference volume and prices thresholds allowing the safeguard mechanisms to be triggered automatically when such thresholds are reached;
Amendment 1315 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Stresses that Parliament and the Council should, via the co-decision procedure, set the general objectives, basic standards, measures and financial allocations, and determine the level of flexibility needed to enable the Member States to cope with their specificities and needs in line with the single market;
Amendment 1332 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Calls on the Commission to propose, before the applicany substantial change in the design and/or the implementation of the NDMCAP, a transitional period long enough to ensure a soft landing and to avoid any delay in farmers’ annual payments and in the implementation of rural development programmes;