Changes from plenary report to adopted text

70. Stresses that the CMO Regulation must be simplified, thereby accelerating procedures to grant exceptional aid to farmers; underlines the importance of promoting and enhancing the crucial role played by cooperatives, POs, APOs, fruit and vegetable producer organisations, inter-branch organisations and other entities contributing to the agri-food value chain, including the organic sector, and to making the agri-food value chain more balanced, thereby ensuring better remuneration for farmers; urges the Commission to examine how their cooperation can be further encouraged and supported through the CMO Regulation;

71. Calls on the Commission to carry out a comprehensive review of the tools, including market observatories, aimed at improving resilience against market volatility and collapses in market prices; insists that it is necessary to update and strengthen current risk management instruments and to enhance cooperation among cooperatives, POs and APOs with a view to strengthening their role in the management of economic and risk management tools; insists on the need to further facilitate the application of the exemptions from competition rules for farmers to address and overcome market crises;

72. Encourages the Commission to provide efficient safety nets in the CMO Regulation, including a review of the current public intervention prices and reference thresholds to accurately reflect the current economic conditions and realities;

73. Welcomes the Commission’s new package for the wine sector and calls on the Commission to further allocate financial resources for the implementation of the proposed measures and for a long-term sustainable revival of the wine sector;

74. Recalls, furthermore, that the CMO Regulation should address the demand of producers and consumers regarding the sales names of certain agricultural products, such as those related to meat, which must be protected from the risk of misleading use;

75. Calls for a guarantee that any legislative proposal affecting agriculture will be preceded, except in exceptional circumstances, by a detailed, comprehensive and evidence-based cumulative impact assessment, with particular emphasis on economic, environmental and social aspects, aiming to provide legal certainty for farmers; advocates the assessment of the economic impacts of proposed policy measures at farm level and the financial means required for their implementation, as well as continuous monitoring of the measures; stresses that the continuous increase in regulatory burdens placed on the sector has caused frustration among farmers and resulted in significant extra costs at farm level, and is one of the factors affecting the attractiveness of the profession for new entrants;

76. Stresses the importance of recognising the diversity of European agriculture, including greenhouse horticulture and permanent crops, in the designation of support measures, regulatory requirements and innovation strategies; calls for the introduction and adaptation of EU regulations specifically developed to address the challenges and opportunities of greenhouse, urban and vertical farming;

77. Stresses the need for a transition to integrated and interoperable digital systems to monitor the CAP; underlines, in this context, the importance of promoting the collection of data and information under a single legislative framework that relies, in particular, on satellite imagery to develop integrated management and control systems; highlights that such systems should aim to reduce face-to-face or physical on-the-spot inspections, where feasible, and minimise farmers’ administrative burdens and costs; insists that the protection and ownership of farmers’ data must be fully guaranteed; recalls, however, that, in view of the current limitations in the use of satellite technology, particularly concerning small, narrow parcels, it remains necessary to maintain other systems in the meantime;

78. Calls for the Member States to implement the single audit approach to minimise the time lost by farmers to accompanying controls; encourages the Commission to modernise the integrated management and control system for satellite imagery, such as Copernicus and Galileo, in order to integrate existing and new technologies to provide greater accuracy, reliability and simplification;

79. Advocates for allowing Member States greater flexibility to support investment in key innovations and technologies, such as the use of satellites, the internet of things and similar technologies to capture operational data; believes that this will ensure transparency and compliance without imposing additional costs on farmers, facilitating the transition towards a trust-based system where reliable farmers can self-certify their compliance, complemented by targeted, risk-based audits rather than broad, routine inspections;

80. Underlines the need to design innovation strategies and digital transitions in a way that is participatory and accessible to all farms, ensuring that technological progress contributes to rural cohesion, democratic participation and sustainable development;

81. Considers it essential to grant Member States that recognise regions as having a statutory role in CAP management the opportunity to restore management instruments at regional level in the context of rural development measures;

Water and the circular economy as a foundation for the post-2027 CAP

82. Urges the Commission to integrate a strategic and holistic approach to water resources into the post-2027 CAP and to increase its synergies with other EU funds, such as the European Regional Development Fund, to strengthen the water-food nexus as a key element in strengthening food security and in the development of rural areas; calls, furthermore, for increased investment in improving water resilience through the modernisation and development of water retention, distribution, storage and sustainable regulating infrastructure, as well as nature-based solutions, which is key to achieving a more efficient and competitive agricultural sector;

83. Calls on the Commission to guarantee access to water for sustainable irrigation; stresses the need to promote investment in waste-water purification and treatment, as well as the use of non-conventional water sources, such as reclaimed and desalinated water for the agricultural sector, regardless of farm size, at competitive prices, with water transport interconnections being equally important to transport this water; calls on the Commission to take into account both the significant differences and challenges in the Member States and also the good practices implemented by each Member State to safeguard agricultural production; calls on the Commission to invest in training programmes for farmers on water-use efficiency;

84. Calls on the Commission to prioritise the promotion of innovative technologies and smart irrigation and the digitalisation of infrastructure to optimise water use and reduce the water footprint, especially in regions affected by drought and desertification, while ensuring stable production;

85. Draws attention to the fact that many irrigation systems are obsolete and inefficient, causing significant water losses and therefore requiring replacement or modernisation; calls, therefore, on the Commission to include financial incentives for this modernisation among its priorities and supports their inclusion as eligible investments within the CAP strategic plans and relevant EU cohesion instruments;

86. Highlights the complexity of using CAP funds, particularly those from Pillar II, to finance irrigation infrastructure, and therefore calls for a review of the design and financing mechanisms for such infrastructure to improve the availability and use of water resources by farmers, reflecting the real costs and added value of the environmental and landscape services they provide;

87. Calls for targeted and effective support for EU farmers and foresters to boost the circular economy and integrate into the emerging bioeconomy, through incentives for the recovery of biomass, agricultural waste and co-products, which would also support the energy autonomy of farms and reduce their dependence on external inputs; points out the need to optimise the use of raw materials and secondary products that generate by-products such as digestate and new energy sources, including sustainable biogas and sustainable biofuels, while being mindful of the need to prioritise food production; underlines that these measures, which must not lead to increased administrative burdens at farm level, will contribute to strengthening the EU’s energy autonomy, boost additional sources of income for farmers and create new employment opportunities; encourages the Commission, in this context, to recognise the importance of these aspects in the forthcoming Bioeconomy Strategy for 2025;

88. Stresses the need for a holistic approach to decarbonising agriculture and calls for appropriate encouragement and incentives, including for the recovery of biomass and rewarding carbon sequestration in soils, as well as sufficient funding for farmers to adopt solutions and practices that reduce the carbon footprint of crops while maintaining their competitiveness, so that the burden of such decarbonisation and workload does not fall exclusively on them;

89. Urges the Commission and the Member States to encourage and enhance the integration of agriculture and renewable energy, recognising the potential of this synergy to promote sustainable farming practices, strengthen local resilience to climate change and enhance the circular economy; highlights the potential for agriculture to play a key role in the Clean Industrial Deal and the energy transition through the production of renewable energy in the sector; calls on the Commission to clarify the provisions of the CAP to better align and increase the compatibility of renewable and sustainable energy sources, such as agrisolar and biogas, with agricultural activities;

90. Advocates for a review of the Nitrates Directive to align it with the latest scientific evidence and best agricultural practices, while continuing to protect water quality; calls, in this regard, on the Commission to work with the Member States to swiftly adopt a science-based proposal allowing the use of RENURE fertilisers under clearly defined conditions so that farmers can reduce their reliance on synthetic fertilisers and accelerate the transition towards more circular and sustainable nutrient management systems;

91. Calls for the facilitation of structured knowledge exchange and cooperation between comparable production systems across the Member States, in order to support mutual learning, address region-specific challenges – such as those faced by intensive production areas – and accelerate sustainable transitions that are tailored to the specific realities of each sector;

92. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen risk management instruments in the post-2027 CAP by increasing financial support for agricultural insurance, mutual funds and the income stabilisation tool; insists on the need to make insurance more accessible and financially viable for farmers; points to the need to introduce a mechanism at EU level to reinforce national agricultural insurance schemes to be activated automatically to cope with extreme and unforeseeable weather and sanitary and market crises; stresses that these measures should be additional to current market management tools and should not undermine current national schemes;

93. Calls on the Commission to reinforce risk management measures, including insurance, reinsurance schemes and other complementary funds to be drawn on in the event of higher damage thresholds, both for preventive measures and compensation for farmers in relation to natural disasters, epizootic outbreaks and plant diseases; considers it necessary, in this context, to include investment in prevention, early warning systems and the development of new resilience infrastructure enabling the sector to anticipate and recover from increasing climate-related risks; underlines the need for Member States to make greater use of currently underutilised risk management tools;

94. Stresses the need to reform and increase the financial capacity of the agricultural reserve in order to address unforeseen market disturbances and climate-related events such as droughts and floods; underlines, however, that the agricultural reserve cannot be the sole instrument, and reiterates the importance of developing a broader range of risk management and rapid response tools, including more effective agricultural insurance schemes, mutual funds, climate emergency funds and extraordinary liquidity support for the EU farming sector;

95. Draws attention to the lack of consistent and easy-to-use methodologies for calculating the emissions of individual agricultural sectors; strongly opposes, therefore, any attempts to include agriculture in the ETS or any green taxation schemes;

96. Stresses that all EU regions are impacted by the consequences of climate change; points out, however, that the southern regions are more vulnerable, suffering from desertification, drought, aquifer salinisation, forest fires, as well as persistent rainfall and flooding, causing new pests and diseases, all of which threaten the agricultural sector; underlines, therefore, that farmers across the EU need specific support measures and instruments to redouble their efforts to adapt their activities to climate change and to prevent and mitigate its negative effects; draws attention to the importance of providing comprehensive support to rural communities and local authorities in achieving these goals;

97. Calls for continuous support to innovative farming techniques, including those used in organic farming and other agroecological practices, both in organic and increasingly in conventional systems, to significantly reduce the use of inputs and external dependencies in agriculture and strengthen autonomy and food security;

98. Insists that the future development of the EU organic sector must be market-oriented and calls for the new CAP to continue to provide incentives for farmers and new entrants to engage in organic farming; invites the Commission to examine new ways of dealing with crises in the organic market; recalls the need to promote organic consumption also through public procurement;

99. Encourages the minimising of food waste and loss along the entire agri-food chain, including primary producers, to ensure the efficient, innovative and sustainable use of all resources; calls on the Commission to take measures at all levels to prevent losses and to promote the conversion of surpluses into value-added products; insists on the need to give greater value to the food produced by farmers and the major effort that goes into obtaining it; encourages the Commission, in this regard, to promote solutions, such as a review of best before dates and the use of natural bio-based preservatives, to extend the shelf life of food products;

100. Calls on the Commission to develop a comprehensive nutrient recovery strategy along the agri-food chain, with targeted support for innovation in the separation, treatment and reuse of nutrients from waste streams from food processing, retail and consumption;

An attractive sector for new generations

102. Calls on the Member States to develop coherent, sustainable and predictable strategies to increase the attractiveness of working in agriculture, ensuring compatibility with EU and regional policies, including their national strategic plans; insists on the need to increase and mobilise CAP financial resources in favour of generational renewal, which currently include the additional Pillar I payment and the support for investment and installation aid available under Pillar II, as well as the creation of new financial instruments outside the CAP; emphasises that these instruments should include increased tax exemptions and incentives, low-interest loans, agricultural credit guarantee schemes, subsidies for precision farming tools and training services, including on sustainable business models, aimed at improving profitability;

103. Stresses the importance of providing diversified, tailored and independent advisory services to support young farmers and new entrants, both prior to their establishment and in the following years, particularly in soft skills, digital and direct marketing skills, accounting, legal aspects, business diversification, sustainable farming and communication; advocates the widespread use of agricultural business incubators that enable prospective farmers to benefit from the knowledge of farmers with a few years of experience in a structured environment before taking over an independent farm; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that provision is made for the establishment of national centres for training young farmers;

104. Asks the Commission to assess whether extending the eligibility for support for young farmers to the age of 45 would encourage more people to become established in agriculture, including through reskilling; calls on the Commission also to reassess other elements of the eligibility criteria which may be too restrictive;

105. Welcomes the cooperation agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group as a promising model that can foster the creation of financial instruments for many aspects of the CAP, including support for young and female farmers, as well as water, market and climate resilience policies in all Member States; believes that the role of the EIB should primarily focus on providing low cost financing for match funding for capital items and infrastructure projects that farmers may engage in as part of a modernisation programme;

106. Encourages the Member States to design mechanisms that facilitate the transition to a dignified and planned retirement; calls, in particular, for early retirement schemes for farmers, financed by separate funds; requests an expansion in services that connect retiring farmers with aspiring young or new farmers, accompanied by, inter alia, logistical support and legal advice to enable the mutually beneficial transfer of farms and ensure the continuity of knowledge and agricultural activity;

107. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to address, in their generational renewal strategies, the specific barriers faced by women, in particular young women, wishing to enter the agricultural sector, including issues not directly related to agriculture, such as adequate healthcare and social services; recognises the efforts through CAP measures to support women in agriculture, but stresses that stronger and more tailored support is needed, especially in peripheral rural areas, including access to loans, training or financial assistance to ensure real engagement and equal opportunities; urges the Member States to establish appropriate conditions for the active participation of women in representative agri-food organisations and in the management bodies of agricultural enterprises and rural women’s associations; welcomes, in this regard, the forthcoming creation of the women farmers’ platform as a space for dialogue and exchange of good practice to strengthen participation and equal opportunities in the agri-food sector;

108. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to urgently address the problem of agricultural land loss and concentration, including the lack of transparency in this market; stresses that land leasing under conditions of legal certainty is a viable short-term alternative for facilitating access to land, as it requires fewer resources to set up and encourages generational renewal; highlights the importance of publicly supported land-matching services and structured succession planning, in particular for the transmission of land that allows for early retirement and the continuity of farm management; advocates Member States adopting policies to promote long-term stable land leasing, thereby providing security of tenure and time to invest, especially for young, female and new farmers, which could also improve soil health, environmental performance and climate resilience;

109. Welcomes the Commission’s intention to launch an EU observatory on farmland, which would have to improve transparency in the agricultural land market in the EU and facilitate the harmonisation of farmland data and access to land, enable cooperation and exchange of best practice between Member States, as well as provide recommendations for more informed EU policymaking;

110. Highlights the fact that the preservation of the EU’s diverse cultural landscapes is not only of ecological and touristic importance, but also a cornerstone of regional identity and long-term rural resilience; calls, therefore, for their explicit recognition and the integration of their preservation as a strategic objective within the post-2027 CAP;

112. Encourages the Commission to explore how the CAP could support new business models for farmers towards even more sustainable, competitive agriculture in Europe;

113. Calls on the Commission to promote partnerships for exchanging best practice and innovative ideas between Member States in collaboration with local authorities, universities, research centres and farms; emphasises that such cooperation should focus on simplification, accessibility, increasing sustainability and addressing challenges specific to each region and sector and should be supported by appropriate training, thereby avoiding distortions and diverging approaches that could disadvantage farmers;

114. Encourages the promotion of support and visibility programmes that reflect the enriching and fulfilling lifestyle that the agricultural sector can offer, highlighting the value and commitment of farmers to nature, food security and the specific qualities and values inherent in the work of farm professionals; draws attention to the value of policy consistency over time as essential to enabling clear long-term objectives for the farming sector;

115. Stresses the importance of a strong and well-funded EU promotion policy, including increased CAP budget allocations, to raise awareness of the qualities of EU agricultural and food products both within the EU and globally, and emphasises that this assumes even greater significance during periods of economic uncertainty;

Innovation to continue moving agriculture forward

116. Calls for an ambitious investment package for innovation, technology and applied research adapted to farmers’ needs, financed through the CAP, Horizon Europe, the Digital Europe Programme and other support mechanisms, which will play a key role in fostering a more sustainable and adapted agricultural sector; stresses that the Horizon Europe programme should include a specific pillar dedicated to agriculture, geared towards promoting research, innovation and knowledge transfer in the agri-food sector;

117. Emphasises the need to ensure that innovative and digital solutions can be used with equitable access across all types of farms and territories in the EU and that these solutions support sustainable agriculture, aid in managing the diversity and complexity of agroecosystems, contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation strategies, improve farmers’ incomes, reduce the administrative workload for both farmers and administrations, anticipate future production conditions and are in line with the expectations of consumers and society; underlines that the use of new technologies should be supported by an appropriate legal framework in order to unleash their full potential and be subject to robust risk assessments;

118. Calls for increased funding for applied research into sustainable and effective alternatives to conventional plant protection products and calls for a revision of the current approval procedures; highlights the need to avoid any further withdrawal from the market of plant protection products that respect established legal safety limits if alternatives are not yet available, in order to ensure that agricultural production can be maintained in a safe, sustainable manner; points to the potential of biostimulants in improving plant productivity;

119. Stresses the importance of recognising and strengthening the role of the AKIS model as a strategic and cross-cutting tool in the post-2027 CAP, capable of ensuring the effective dissemination of knowledge and innovation to farmers; believes that an efficient and coordinated AKIS is central to achieving key CAP objectives in terms of competitiveness, sustainable food production, climate resilience and digital transition and must be fully integrated with national strategic plans;

120. Recognises the importance of EIP-AGRI, which has contributed to the advancement of innovation in the agri-food and forestry sector through the creation of operational groups and the implementation of innovative projects aimed at developing cutting-edge solutions, demonstrating best practice, which improve the sustainability, resilience and competitiveness of the agri-food sector; calls on the Commission to strengthen support for this initiative in the framework of the post-2027 CAP;

121. Points to the need to design a specific measure within the rural development framework based on the principles of integrated sustainable agriculture, to make greater use of integrated pest management, including biocontrol, drones and endotherapy, to optimise the application of plant protection products, while always respecting the established legal and safety limits and providing compensation to farmers for any financial losses suffered; stresses the importance of establishing integrated farming as a commonly recognised system in the EU and of making further progress in establishing and supporting sustainable and organic farming practices;

122. Highlights the importance of leveraging private funding within the CAP to increase investment in agriculture and rural development by mobilising more long-term resources for farmer organisations, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as family businesses;

123. Notes that, according to a European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) study from 2025, a small number of large slaughterhouses are concentrated in certain regions; highlights, therefore, the need to support, through CAP funds, the establishment and development of slaughterhouses to stimulate the local economy, create jobs and strengthen short supply chains;

124. Calls for the rapid approval and implementation of new breeding techniques, such as CRISPR-Cas, across both small and large companies, to foster the development of crops that are more resilient, resource-efficient and environmentally sustainable;