52 Amendments of Marc TARABELLA related to 2016/2034(INI)
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas agriculture and food remain at the centre of various heterogeneous technological, social, economic, environmental and political forces which are currently in danger of becoming unstable;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas we are facing a double paradox: on the one hand we have a global agriculture with sufficient reserves to feed a world with 9 billion people but which is unable to eradicate hunger, and on the other hand an increasingly unstable market situation marked by prices which are lower than the predictions which formed the basis of the 2014 reform of the CAP;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas, in recent decades, market opening and economic globalisationstarting in the 1990s, the deregulation of the common organisations of the market which occurred in the context of the various CAP reforms and the greater opening up of European agriculture on international markets which resulted from EU trade policy have accentuated price volatility;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas the financialisation of the global economy and the accompanying speculation might have an impact on agricultural markets and may contribute to increasing their imbalance and the volatility of prices, with agricultural raw materials being used simply as financial assets; as was highlighted by the dreadful hunger riots in 2008, this excessive financialisation can be devastating and ethically reprehensible if it threatens the food security of the poorest, least well- nourished people on the planet;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas greater market transparency mayof European and international markets is a necessary yet insufficient condition for limiting price volatility;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas greater market transparency mayis a necessary adjunct to public decision-making but is insufficient for limiting price volatility;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas, according to Commission data, countries with the most cooperatives are proving most resistant to the crisis;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas models such as the Milk Market Observatory, at Union level, and the Agricultural Market Information System, at world level, aim to enhance market transparency in European markets;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers that volatility must be accepted as a given and that those operators who are most exposed must be supported in order to lessen its negative effectdealing with price volatility must take into account the extremely unstable and imperfect nature, and the possible failure, of agricultural markets; this necessitates ensuring a measure of control over such volatility in the CAP, national (fiscal) policy and the management systems of companies;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers that volatility must be accepted as a given and that those operators who are most exposed must be supported in order to lessen its negative effectsmore incisive action and targeted instruments are required at EU level to tackle the problem of agricultural price volatility;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Points out that the current CAP is open to criticism because of the issues of incomes, agricultural employment and excessive price volatility;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that the Union’s competitors make considerable sums of public money available for protecting their farmers from the effects of price volatility; points out that public support for agriculture provided by the United States, Brazil and China increased by 40%, 20% and 92% respectively between 2008 and 2012 while European public support in 2012 was 17% down on 2008;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Points out that the European Union is the only agricultural power to base its agricultural policy on support decoupled from production, along with environmental constraints, whereas the major global powers such as the United States, Brazil and China all have mechanisms to support and regulate agricultural production and incomes;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recognises the role played by cooperatives in helping farmers improve their position in the value chain and the contribution cooperatives can make towards mitigating the effects of excessive market volatility and improving income stability;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Notes that the most recent reform of the CAP fails to address the strategic issues within agriculture in terms of both responsibility in connection with global food security and European Union autonomy;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes the reduction in CAP resources devoted to common market organisation (CMO) measures, opening up the prospect of CAP renationalisation, which runs counter to the European Union project;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes with concern the reduction in CAP resources devoted to common market organisation (CMO) measures;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Stresses that unregulated liberalisation of agricultural markets has helped heighten price volatility;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Notes that the objectives of the CAP include ensuring a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, stabilising markets and guaranteeing viable food production, with an emphasis on fairmers’ incomes for farmers and price stability;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Takes the view that combating excessive price volatility calls for new solutions making markets function better and based on deployment of a set of combinable and/or complementary public- and private-sector tools; states that, as the ongoing grave crises have demonstrated, it is essential to build new crisis prevention and market adjustment mechanisms into the CAP that are tailored to specific production circumstances, flexible, effective, rapidly deployable and capable of being brought into play where it is necessary to do so in order to rectify major market disruptions;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Considers that food autonomy and security, on the basis of food production within Europe, must be long-term aims for the future CAP reforms and that, to achieve them, price volatility must be combated;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Considers that viable food production cannot be achieved without securingguaranteed when farmers are exposed to price volatility, since price volatility threatens the continued existence of European farms and that doing, which must be a long-term aim for the future CAP;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Considers that the development over the whole of the Union's territory of competitive and sustainable farming that meets the needs of citizens and takes into account the income and wellbeing of farmers must be addressed as a matter of urgency and must be a long-term aim for the future CAP;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Recommends strengthening the organisational capability of the weakest links in the various agricultural sectorseconomic power of producers within the sectors through a better organisation of production and through more balanced and strengtheningansparent contractual systems based more and more on cooperation and trust between farmers and their buyers;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. RecommendsStresses the importance of strengthening the organisational capability of the weakest links in the various agricultural sectors and strengthening contractual systems, which must go hand in hand with boosting farmers' negotiating power in the food chain through the right to negotiate their contracts collectively;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Recommends that action should be taken to make contractual systems more effective by extending their use throughout the agri-food chain, so as to include large-scale retailers in particular, and to strike a proper balance between all stakeholders;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11b. Believes that, with a view to increasing farmers' bargaining power, it should be made compulsory for contracts to be signed between producers and buyers; stresses that those contracts should be of adequate length and should lay down the prices, payment periods and other terms for the supply of agricultural products;
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes that inter-branch organisations may encourage dialogue among the various stakeholders and facilitate joint initiativesmay enable the creation of added value through joint initiatives which is then shared out more fairly between the various links in the food chain;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls on the Commission to pave the way for EU-level interbranch organisations to jointly defend the interests of producers in the sectors most oriented towards cross-border markets, such as the fruit and vegetable sector;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Believes that cooperatives and producer organisations should be more closely involved in the process of ensuring insurance cover and setting up mutual funds;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Considers that farmers must be permitted to come together in bodies that carry as much clout as those of the other stakeholders with whom they negotiate; envisages this being achieved by adjusting EU competition policy to agriculture's specific features and by EU competition rules being enforced uniformly in Member States;
Amendment 243 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Calls on the Commission to study new tools to prevent and manage the risks associated with price volatility and thus to lay the foundations for discussion of the future reforms of the CAP towards 2050;
Amendment 287 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Emphasises that, against a backdrop of deep uncertainty over agricultural prices, the EU must take more incisive action on the markets, involving the establishment of safety nets and prevention and crisis management systems based on countercyclical aid, in order to secure remunerative prices for farmers;
Amendment 289 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Amendment 301 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Considers that the decoupled aids which constitute the bulk of the first pillar of the CAP are no longer adapted to the vagaries of the market to which farmers are subject; calls on the Commission, therefore, to embark on a transition process leading to the switching of some or all of the decoupled aid payments to the risk management schemes;
Amendment 303 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 e (new)
Paragraph 19 e (new)
19e. Calls on the Commission to provide for greater flexibility in the annual budgets, within the bounds of the multiannual financial envelope, in order to take account of the countercyclical aid and the insurance instruments, whilst improving the added value of European expenditure;
Amendment 304 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 b (new)
Paragraph 19 b (new)
19b. Calls on the Commission to develop mechanisms to combat price volatility on two main principles, countercyclical aid and insurance-based instruments;
Amendment 306 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 c (new)
Paragraph 19 c (new)
19c. Considers that countercyclical aid should help meet the economic risks due to the instability of global markets, excessive third-country competition and the disappearance of regulatory tools at European level, in order to ensure a basis for stability of farmers' incomes and thus prevent European food security (in terms of both quality and quantity) from being undermined by an inappropriate CAP;
Amendment 307 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 d (new)
Paragraph 19 d (new)
19d. Considers that the insurance- based instruments are intended to cope with natural hazards and to complement the countercyclical measures through mutual funds or specific insurance policies in order to enable farmers and the European and national public authorities to implement support for agricultural activities according to strategic objectives by sector and/or by region;
Amendment 314 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Considers that mutual funds, established at the initiative of working farmers, and through which farmers’ incomes can be stabilised to some extent as the profit margins on their produce fluctuate, may offer an effective way to limit the effects of price volatility, in addition to the countercyclical aid;
Amendment 319 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
Amendment 336 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Believes a mandatory precautionary savings scheme for farmers should be set up to replace the current European crisis reserve, to cover risks of all kinds, partly through direct aid, so that reserves can be set aside in good years for deployment during difficult periods;
Amendment 347 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Considers that agricultural markets must be transparent and that information about prices and production costs must be accessible and useful to all those involved;
Amendment 352 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Stresses that studies conducted by certain food price observatories have revealed substantial discrepancies between prices received by the farmer and those paid by consumers;
Amendment 355 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Sees it as part of the Union’'s role to facilitate transparency in the European marketon European and international markets which are known to be very unstable; points out that international market transparency calls for determined action on the part of the European Union and its Member States and of the rest of the international community, in the form of more active, closer cooperation to develop genuine governance arrangements in the area of world food security;
Amendment 364 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Takes the view that greater transparency can contribute to market monitoring and steering, but that its effectiveness in curbing price fluctuations is contingent in particular on the ability to intervene effectively when markets stop functioning normally, through the use of safety nets and crisis management instruments for which provision must be made in the single CMO; considers that these instruments should be overhauled when the next CAP reform takes place;
Amendment 370 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Recommends that European agricultural price observatories be established for the various sectors of the industry, to provide ongoing, segment-by- segment analysis of agricultural markets, with the involvement of economic stakeholders, and to make relevant data and forecasts available at regular intervals, but emphasises at the same time the need for early warning and crisis prevention mechanisms; stresses that agricultural price observatories must quickly provide up-to-date data on agricultural production costs and average profit margins in the Member States;
Amendment 384 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Believes that the remit of the European agricultural price observatory should be broadened to include the fruit and vegetables and olive oil sectors;
Amendment 385 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 b (new)
Paragraph 25 b (new)
25b. Believes that the operation of the European agricultural price observatory should be improved and the necessary resources should be provided in order for it become a fully-fledged management tool rather than being used simply to compile statistics;
Amendment 390 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 c (new)
Paragraph 25 c (new)
29c. Points out that, if the European observatory is to include an efficient early warning system, it must supply more detailed data on the Member States on a monthly basis, so that proper account may be taken of the specific situations in the various parts of the EU;
Amendment 391 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 d (new)
Paragraph 25 d (new)
22d. Believes that the Commission should send early warnings to the Member States and to stakeholders and should take all necessary measures without delay;