Activities of Maria do Céu PATRÃO NEVES related to 2009/2237(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Fair revenues for farmers: A better functioning food supply chain in Europe (debate)
Amendments (10)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas between 1996 and the present the cost of food products has risen by an average of 3.3% per annum, the equivalent figures for agricultural production costs and for prices paid to farmers being 3.6%/ per annum and only 2.1% per annum respectively,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the average farmer’s income decreased by more than 12% in the EU-27 in 2009; whereas, despite this, farmers and the agri-food sector still have to produce food products that meet extremely demanding quality standards at prices that are affordable to consumers, in line with the objectives defined under the CAP,
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G d (new)
Recital G d (new)
Gd. whereas globalisation and the processes of concentration, especially at retail level, have created a situation of imbalance as between the different players in the food chain, and today's reality is one of a tiny number of all- powerful retailers who negotiate directly or indirectly with 13.4 million farmers and 310 000 agri-food enterprises Union- wide,
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3a (new)
Paragraph 3a (new)
3a. Urges the Commission to maintain the high-level group on the food distribution chain as a permanent forum for discussion, as it has proved a significant instrument for identifying problems, making recommendations and adopting strategies with a view to remedying the current situation of imbalance;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3b (new)
Paragraph 3b (new)
3b. Calls on the Commission to create the post of Food Trading Ombudsman at European level, whose tasks would be to ensure implementation of the codes of conduct and best practices and act as mediator in cases of breach of obligations arising from voluntary agreements;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to submit a legislative proposal for introducing mandatory annual reporting by the top 20 traders, processors, wholesalers and retailers onthe monitoring of abusive practices on the part of the main traders, processors, wholesalers and retailers, with particular reference to their reporting of their market shares (with data on private labels) for key food items and on their monthly sales volumes so as to allow all market partners to estimate trends in demand, supply and price developments in the food chain;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4a (new)
Paragraph 4a (new)
4a. Believes that the Commission needs to promote a large-scale information campaign at European level in order to raise farmers' awareness concerning their rights, the abusive practices of which they may be the targets, and the means available to them to denounce abuses;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8a (new)
Paragraph 8a (new)
8a. Notes that, according to a Commission study, late payments to farmers on the part of retailers and supermarket chains account for as much as EUR 23.6 billion per annum; urges the Commission to propose legislation on the matter with a view to preventing these unjustifiable practices, especially in the case of highly perishable agricultural products such as fruit and vegetables, for which there is no rational justification whatever for late payment;
Amendment 141 #
10. Takes the view that the Commission’s recommendations to enhance vertical integration of the food industry do not always reflect the need to rebalance bargaining power between farmers and the food industry, and that those strategies should therefore be accompanied by measures to discourage abusive practices;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11a (new)
Paragraph 11a (new)
11a. Urges the Commission to promote mergers of farmers' organisations, especially cooperatives, in order to create a bigger critical mass and boost their negotiating power; believes, in this connection, that farmers' organisations and cooperatives should be treated as equivalent to SMEs, thus enabling them to benefit from special exemptions;