Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Added9. Stresses that sustainable food and agricultural production plays a heightened strategic role, accentuated by the new geopolitical context, as an essential part of European security, stability and sovereignty as well as strategic autonomy, and that the CAP budget amount and framework must reflect that; maintains that EU farming should be recognised not only as an economic sector, but also as a geopolitical cornerstone, a tool for social and territorial stability, and a critical component of the EU’s security and defence policies; notes that, at global level, with the exception of the EU, countries playing a key role in the agricultural sector have stepped up their spending and protection measures for the sector since the 2007-2008 food price crisis; recalls that agricultural productivity and resilience are dependent on the sustainable management of natural resources to guarantee the long-term sustainability of our food systems; highlights the need for the post-2027 CAP to contribute to strengthening the Union’s overall preparedness and resilience; emphasises that the Commission and the Member States should include food in their security and competitiveness plans; calls on the Commission and the Member States to consider establishing strategic storage facilities at European and national level with a view to safeguarding food security;

Removed10. Notes that Member States face increasing and diverse risks; stresses, in this regard, that an appropriate increase in the agricultural reserve is necessary to cope with unpredictable market and climate change distortions such as drought and floods;

Added10. Points out that efficient agricultural production makes an important contribution to the sustainability of the sector, by optimising yields with the fewest possible inputs; emphasises that the CAP must include instruments and investments that enhance the capacity of farms and rural areas to be prepared for, absorb and recover from shocks; insists that the CAP’s primary objective should be to meet the European population’s food needs and that this means supporting farmers more effectively so as to boost EU food security and strategic autonomy;

Removed11. Calls for better coordination between the Solidarity Fund and the CAP so that farmers affected by natural disasters can access faster and more targeted aid; calls for the creation of an automatic trigger mechanism to speed up the arrival of funds in the event of climatic disasters and the reduction of bureaucracy for easier access to exceptional aid from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD);

Added11. Stresses, in this regard, the strategic role of wholesale markets, accredited structures in the public interest, which can ensure compliance with the principles of sustainability, waste reduction and price transparency;

Removed12. Stresses that, while agriculture contributes through the CAP to other policies and strategies, such as environment, energy, climate, biodiversity and regional development, it is relevant that other policies also contribute to agriculture, especially in terms of instruments to support the green transition;

Added12. Points out that cooperation, aggregation and dialogue, as well as better organisation of farmers through cooperatives, POs or APOs in the agri-food value chain, together with derogations from competition law and specific support, are key to improving the position of farmers, promoting a more equitable distribution of margins and increasing the efficiency of all actors; notes, in this respect, that the reform of the CMO and the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive can serve as an opportunity to strengthen the position of farmers in national and transnational agri-food supply chains, ensuring that producers get a fair price for their products and for their work, by reinforcing crisis management mechanisms and improving cross-border enforcement against unfair commercial practices through harmonisation at EU level, without compromising or negatively impacting the best existing national strategies and practices; calls on the Commission to examine the possibility of establishing new instruments to avoid farmers receiving prices for their products that are below the costs of production;

Removed13. Reaffirms that the EU has the highest standards in the world for food safety, animal welfare and environmental and social protection, but that any proposed legislation should be science-based and should pursue the economic competitiveness of farms;

Added13. Underlines, in particular, the importance of strengthening cross-border cooperation between competent authorities in the Member States, ensuring effective, coordinated and consistent enforcement of rules across the internal market, in order to combat abusive behaviour, ensure fairness along the supply chain and prevent unfair competition; emphasises that food security and food sovereignty are vital components of strategic autonomy and that the next MFF must continue to effectively support the competitiveness and resilience of the Union’s farming sector;

Removed14. Also calls on the Commission to ensure that its legislative proposals for the next CAP include appropriate measures and instruments to integrate protein-crop production and promote the competitiveness of livestock farming, given the protein-crop deficit and the progressive loss of livestock in the EU, and the consequent threats to biodiversity, fire risk, soil fertility and rural economies, as well as increased dependence on imports from third countries; on this point, looks forward to the recommendations of the working group on livestock announced by the European Commission;

Added14. Stresses the importance of safeguarding and reinforcing direct income support to meet the needs of all active, professional farmers under the CAP, both full and part-time, regardless of their size and type of production; underlines the importance of including pluriactive farmers, since all farmers contribute significantly to the socio-economic fabric of rural areas;

Removed15. Calls on the Member States to promote and improve systems for the replacement of farmers or any agricultural employee in the event of illness, rest or accident, or in order to ensure a better work-life balance for farmers;

Added15. Points out that direct payments in their current form generate clear EU added value and recalls the importance of an area-based model, while increasing support for the most vulnerable farmers, including family-run farms, small and medium-sized farms, young and female farmers, farms in areas with natural constraints and those that adopt more sustainable practices; advocates a model that provides stability and contributes effectively to farmers’ income and maintains the economic viability, competitiveness and sustainability of food production in all regions and territories of the EU; believes that it is essential to ensure fairness in the distribution of direct payments both among and within Member States;

Removed16. Calls on the Commission to update the financial allocations for POSEI to reflect cumulative inflation in the next MFF and regrets that the 2 % deflator applied to direct payments has not also been considered for POSEI in the current MFF;

Added16. Believes that in order to improve the targeting of CAP support towards those engaged in an agricultural activity, it is necessary to further refine the EU-level framework definition of a farmer and that, on the basis of this definition, the Member States should define which farmers are eligible for support; insists that this definition should not result in precluding support to pluriactive farmers, who are actively farming, but who are also engaged in non-agricultural activities outside their farm, as their multiple activities often strengthen the socio-economic fabric of rural areas;

Removed17. Points out that Pillar II financing for beekeeping should be better targeted and made more effective and that the new legislative framework should provide for a new Pillar I support scheme for beekeepers;

Added17. Emphasises the importance of transparency in the allocation of CAP funds and calls for the systematic identification of final beneficiaries and interconnected companies; urges the Commission and the Member States to introduce control mechanisms to prevent concentration of aid through complex ownership structures or an artificial fragmentation of farms;

Removed18. Highlights the importance of reliable internet access for farmers’ quality of life in rural areas, in particular to overcome social isolation and access education and training opportunities, as well as for service provision, with the objective of tying populations to their areas;

Added18. Considers that, as long as a level playing field in the internal market is respected, voluntary coupled support payments should be maintained or increased, with sufficient budgetary allocation and greater flexibility in their use, as a simple tool to maintain production in vulnerable sectors and to counteract specific difficulties, particularly those arising from the structural competitive disadvantage of less-favoured areas;

Removed19. Calls for greater awareness of the importance of farmers’ mental health and the high risk of suicide among this demographic, which is an alarming phenomenon caused by high levels of stress, uncertainty and isolation; calls, therefore, for the development of psychological support programmes that promote administrative simplification and work-life balance in order to improve the quality of life of professionals in the field;

Added19. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to maintain the voluntary nature of eco-schemes and to make them simpler and more flexible in the post-2027 CAP; calls on the Member States to provide their farmers with a clear and simple list of efficient and effective eco-scheme options to choose from, accompanied by appropriate and attractive remuneration to incentivise them, while neither undermining the funds allocated for direct payments and investments nor increasing red tape; calls on the Member States to invest in training to support farmers in making effective use of eco-schemes;

Removed20. Calls for the consolidation of harmonised European labelling to ensure a fair and equitable system, strengthening transparency about the origin and quality assurance of EU agri-food products, ensuring their competitiveness in the single market and globally, with clear rules to avoid distortions, enhance their promotion and reinforce consumer confidence;

Added20. Recognises the progress already achieved through social conditionality; calls for an evaluation of social conditionality in the CAP and proportionate, effective and clearly defined implementation to avoid duplication of regulations among Member States and disproportionate administrative burdens on farmers, and to protect workers’ rights;

Removed21. Calls for the promotion of nutrition education in schools and school canteens, with the aim of helping children understand the importance of a complete and balanced diet from an early age, developing eating habits and school menus that include a variety of healthy and nutrient-rich foods to contribute to strengthening the physical and mental well-being of students, respecting and promoting regional gastronomy as a cultural heritage;

Added21. Calls for a comprehensive study to assess whether introducing mandatory mechanisms, such as a redistribution or limitation of direct payments under the CAP through capping and degressivity, would improve fairness; stresses that this should be analysed in advance of the presentation of proposals for a new CAP in order to develop appropriate instruments that can genuinely support the viability of farms across the EU, including young and female farmers and small and medium-sized farms; stresses that this study should also analyse the non-application of capping to specific payments, such as eco-schemes and agri-environment or climate-related payments;

Removed22. Calls for widespread recognition of the essential work performed by farmers on food safety and health and their commitment to sustainable practices, through campaigns that strengthen the relationship of consumers with European farmers and agri-food products, as it is essential to counteract erroneous and unjustified messages, while improving the vilified and prejudiced image that part of society has of farmers;

Added22. Calls for the pursuit of equitable distribution of the value produced in the agri-food sector, by means of framework laws and interventions aimed at increasing the returns from entrepreneurship and agricultural incomes, by rebalancing the relationships within the chain towards distributors and producers; calls, in particular, for incentives and investments for new agri-food business models that deliver long-term financial sustainability and for a rebalancing of the commercial relationship between farmers, distributors and producers beyond the current EU approach of prohibited practices, by designing reference framework legislation inspired by the French ‘EGAlim’ law;

Added23. Calls for an independent and strong second pillar of the CAP – separate from, but closely coordinated with, cohesion policies – that promotes policy coherence to facilitate, inter alia, territorial integration, and ensure synergies and effective support for the agricultural sector within a coherent framework that guarantees the efficient use of EU funds and investments in projects; insists that these funds reach beneficiaries in a timely manner; believes that rural development funding should be allocated primarily to agricultural activities, while other actions supporting territories or infrastructure should be financed from the cohesion funds;

Added24. Stresses the need for a well-funded rural development programme under the second pillar of the CAP to support rural areas, with a strong EU financial contribution, complemented by national co-financing to ensure the programme’s effectiveness and long-term sustainability; emphasises, in this sense, the crucial role of local governments and stakeholders, such as cooperatives and local action groups, in streamlining the efforts under CAP Pillar II; insists that regions must be able to design, implement and manage rural development measures autonomously, while respecting the constitutional specificities of each Member State;

Added25. Calls for an increase in the budget allocated to the LEADER programme, which contributes to addressing social challenges and promoting local action groups by strengthening CLLD approaches, which are key in building stronger rural-urban links; stresses that LEADER has a central role to play in promoting attractive, prosperous, resilient and interconnected rural areas by supporting initiatives that generate local added value, stimulate entrepreneurship, foster innovation and strengthen the economic and social fabric of territories, all of which are essential for retaining and attracting human capital, especially young people and women, and contributing to demographic and territorial balance, and generational renewal;

Added26. Recognises that voluntary agri-environmental and climate measures, and animal welfare and animal and plant health measures under Pillar II, using simplified and both incentive- and compliance-based approaches, are key instruments for safeguarding the environment and the promotion of sustainable practices, while contributing to decent incomes for the farmers who implement them; considers these Pillar II schemes to be more effective than eco-schemes, which, in many Member States, have not achieved the desired results due to their high level of complexity for farmers, and thus believes these Pillar II schemes should receive an increased share of funding in the future CAP; underlines the importance of ensuring that agri-environmental and climate measures contribute to maintaining and enhancing food production;

Added27. Calls for the CAP financial support to be made simpler and more accessible for small projects, which are more often than not the drivers of the most innovative initiatives; calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote and extend the use of simplified cost options;

Added28. Calls on the Commission to adopt concrete measures to guarantee that imports of agri-food products from non-EU countries are held to the same food safety, environmental, social and animal welfare standards as those required of EU producers, in order to ensure a level playing field and a high level of food safety, traceability and sustainable production in the EU; insists that this is essential to avoid compromising the competitiveness of EU agri-food production with respect to imported products; insists that, in order to avoid unfair competition for EU farmers, the Commission must be ready to activate safeguard clauses in its agreements with non-EU countries, where necessary, to ensure the stability of the internal market;

Added29. Calls on the Commission, in its efforts to open new markets and consolidate existing ones, to carry out a systematic impact assessment of the provisions relating to the agricultural sector in each of its trade agreements, which should take into account all interested parties in order to determine their cumulative impact, and to provide specific strategies to ensure a level playing field and reciprocity at all levels, particularly with regard to production, quality and social standards;

Added30. Stresses that it is necessary to maintain consistency between the Union’s trade and sustainability policies and to strengthen controls both at the source and at borders by the Commission and the Member States and through an EU control agency, as this would offer greater guarantees in terms of fair competition for European producers; calls for a review of EU trade policy to ensure that it effectively supports the competitiveness and sustainability of European agriculture; stresses that the sustainability and competitiveness of the EU’s agricultural sector should not be undermined when securing future trade agreements;

Added31. Calls on the Commission to improve synergies, complementarities and coordination among EU funding instruments, such as the Cohesion Fund, the NextGenerationEU recovery instrument and the Just Transition Fund, and with national instruments, as well as to open direct lines of cooperation with local authorities in managing and implementing the funds; calls, furthermore, for enhanced integration with other relevant programmes, in order to maximise the impact of innovation, digitalisation, sustainability and resilience objectives in agriculture and rural areas; calls on the Commission to put in place an internal procedure, at the beginning of each financial programming period, to ensure complementarity and consistency at EU level between the different support instruments planned in rural areas;

Added32. Stresses that access to finance for farmers and other actors in the agri-food sector is essential for implementing investments, facilitating access to land and ensuring the continuity of agricultural activity on farms; stresses, furthermore, that innovation and technology in the agri-food sector should continue to benefit from targeted investment support as a priority, so as to enable the EU to become a global digital hub, boosting start-ups and attracting and retaining talented young people;

Added33. Notes that Member States face increasing and diverse risks; stresses, in this regard, that an appropriate increase in and a reform of the common agricultural crisis reserve combined with the creation of new and specific financial instruments, with resources outside of the CAP, are both essential to support farmers, amid unpredictable market and climate change distortions such as drought and floods, storms, plant and animal diseases, as well as changes in consumer behaviour and geopolitical tensions; calls on the Commission to establish its ex ante crisis management strategy on a product-by-product basis, with a view to using the agricultural crisis reserve in a way that maximises efficiency and community added value; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure rapid, effective and proportionate responses to the needs of farmers in crisis situations, allowing them to swiftly obtain the capital they need to restore their agricultural activities;

Added34. Emphasises the important role played by CAP public intervention mechanisms in stabilising agricultural markets and protecting farmers from price fluctuations; recalls that the reference thresholds have not been reassessed for several years and should be reviewed as soon as possible to take account of price changes;

Added35. Calls for better coordination and simplification between all available instruments, including the Solidarity Fund, to enable farmers, as well as rural communities and local authorities, affected by natural and climate-related disasters to access faster and more targeted aid; calls, in view of the increasing damages caused by natural disasters, for the creation of an automatic trigger mechanism to speed up the arrival of specific tools for risk mitigation and management based on active and passive measures that are affordable for farmers;

Added36. Calls on the Member States to ensure the timely and correct implementation of their national strategic plans, across both pillars, thereby avoiding the return of funds;

Added37. Stresses that, while agriculture contributes through the CAP to other policies and strategies, such as the environment, energy, trade, climate, biodiversity, animal health and welfare, public health and regional development, it is relevant and welcome that other policies continue to contribute to the sustainability of agriculture and to rural development and the provision of services beyond the production of food and biogenic resources; stresses, in particular, the importance of bioenergy and bioeconomy development to support the resilience of the agricultural sector;

Added38. Calls on the Commission to implement an EU-wide rural-proofing mechanism across all policy areas and to include the Rural Pact Community, as well as the Committee of the Regions, in all activities related to the rural development framework; regrets the fact that although the Commission included the rural-proofing mechanism in its vision for rural areas towards 2040, in practice it appears to have been implemented only to a limited extent;

Added39. Reaffirms that the EU has the highest standards in the world for food safety, animal welfare and environmental and social protection, which are cornerstones of the competitiveness of high-quality EU agricultural products, and which must be respected and protected; demands, therefore, that any proposed legislation in these areas be science-based and preceded by a rigorous and comprehensive impact assessment, and be designed to strengthen competitiveness and the sustainability of EU farms; believes that incentivisation and compensation for farmers for any additional costs they incur is essential to meet this aim;

Added40. Emphasises that improving animal welfare is not only an ethical imperative, but also a pathway to more resilient and profitable livestock systems; underlines that healthier animals with lower stress levels generally require less veterinary intervention, have higher fertility rates and perform better, leading to greater economic efficiency; calls for CAP measures to continue supporting investments and training in higher animal welfare standards, aligned with market expectations and scientific recommendations;

Added41. Calls on the Commission to give Member States the opportunity to reverse their past gold-plating of EU legislation, often done without overseeing its scope, for example in relation to the designation of sites under the Habitats Directive;

Added42. Calls on the Commission to present in its legislative proposals for the next CAP an ambitious and comprehensive protein strategy, which should include appropriate measures and instruments to promote high-quality protein-crop production, including leguminous crops such as, but not limited to, certain oilseeds, pulses and green forage, and non-leguminous crops such as sunflower and rape seed for food and feed purposes, with the aim of significantly reducing the EU’s protein deficit and ensuring strategic autonomy;

Added43. Emphasises the strategic importance of sustainable livestock farming for rural development, biodiversity conservation, landscape management and environmental sustainability, particularly in less-favoured areas and high nature value landscapes, and stresses the need to provide the sector with adequate financial support to ensure its sustainability; underlines that animal products are not only of nutritional value, but that their production plays a crucial role in preserving traditional cultural landscapes, soil fertility and carbon storage; calls on the Commission to create a high-level group on livestock farming involving all relevant stakeholders to develop new approaches to safeguard the future of the sector and address the progressive loss of livestock in the EU, boosting generational renewal, promoting animal welfare and the circular economy – including the use of digestate as a valuable biofertiliser contributing to nutrient recycling and soil health – and maximising the positive contribution of sustainable livestock farming on nature conservation and restoration, biodiversity and soil health and fertility, and to promote investments to foster the competitiveness of the sector; considers that the introduction of a new agricultural emissions trading system (ETS) would create excessive complexity without any guarantee of effectiveness;

Added44. Highlights the recent outbreaks of animal diseases in several Member States; calls on the Commission and the Member States to bolster prevention and eradication measures and increase CAP funding allocations dedicated to risk management and improved on-farm biosecurity investments; calls on the Commission to strengthen animal health measures in the EU agricultural sector by coordinating the research, purchase and supply of veterinary vaccines at EU level through a preparedness and early detection mechanism, and by fostering the development of these vaccines in the EU; calls for adequate funding for this mechanism outside of the CAP; urges the Member States to support and work with the regions in developing and implementing prevention, vaccination and mitigation plans for these diseases;

Added45. Regrets that the funding of measures to prevent, control and eradicate certain animal diseases through the Single Market Programme is insufficient to support farmers and Member States in relation to diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease; stresses that, in the EU, any failure to prevent or control animal diseases in one Member State can have immediate repercussions for the others and requires a coordinated response; calls for the introduction of strict EU-level animal health standards to safeguard livestock farming, including provisions for the management of wild animal populations posing infection risks and for the targeted vaccination of animals when necessary;

Added46. Stresses that antimicrobial resistance is a major threat to human health and reducing the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry must be a priority; notes the funding available for reducing the susceptibility and transmission of animal diseases already available in the CAP;

Added47. Reaffirms the need to develop an overarching food strategy for the EU based on scientific experiment, which incorporates arable and livestock farming while simultaneously guaranteeing equitable treatment for all agricultural sectors; supports science-based environmental assessments that take account of the entire life cycle of food products; supports nutrition based on scientific evaluations that confirm the importance of foods of animal origin for human health, in particular for vulnerable populations such as children, elderly people and women;

Added48. Calls on the Member States to promote and improve working and social conditions and wages for farmers or any agricultural employees and to ensure proper worker coverage and replacement in the event of illness or accidents causing a temporary absence; calls also for the provision of training and for annual leave and family leave to take care of family members, in order to ensure quality jobs and a better work-life balance for farmers and farm workers; underlines the role of agriculture as a key contributor to social responsibility and decent working conditions in rural areas;

Added49. Calls on the Commission to update the financial allocations for POSEI to reflect, as a minimum, cumulative inflation in the next MFF, with annually adjusted envelopes, and regrets that the 2 % deflator applied to direct payments has not also been considered for POSEI in the current MFF; believes, however, that the Commission must go further and propose a significant increase in the POSEI budget in the next MFF to provide complementary support for agricultural production, thus ensuring food self-sufficiency in the outermost regions; considers this to be essential for the continuity of agricultural activity in the outermost regions, for supporting investments and for ensuring the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the EU, in full compliance with Article 349 TFEU, which recognises the specific nature of these regions and the need to adopt differentiated measures to respond to their permanent constraints; argues that increased POSEI funding should take into account the real and specific agricultural needs of these regions, including changes in production costs, exposure to increasing extreme weather events and climate change, territorial fragmentation, market volatility and the need to ensure the economic viability of farms and fair incomes for farmers; stresses, in this context, the importance of creating a specific mechanism, namely a POSEI transport programme, which will help mitigate the additional transport costs for products within and transported from the outermost regions to the single market and factors of production in the outermost regions;

Added50. Points out that Pillar II financing for beekeeping should be better targeted and made more effective and that the new legislative framework should provide for the modernisation and simplification of the Pillar I support scheme for beekeepers that takes into account the specific features and vulnerabilities of the sector;

Added51. Highlights the importance of access to physical and digital infrastructure with reliable high-speed broadband service and the use of satellite technology for farmers’ work and quality of life in rural areas and in overcoming social isolation; insists, therefore, on the importance of achieving a gradual digitalisation of agriculture, which involves constant access to the internet, digital knowledge, innovation, farmer data access and ownership, education and training opportunities so as to attract and retain people in these areas, especially young people, affording them the possibility of remaining in these areas should they wish to do so; calls on the Commission and the Member States to make training available for farmers and forest managers to acquire digital skills that can help them to make the best use of the advantages of digitalisation and precision farming and work in a more efficient and sustainable way, while mindful of the fact that personal and verbal communication remain essential for many farmers at present; recognises the crucial role of farmers’ organisations in driving the digital transformation of agriculture;

Added52. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure full alignment between the Digital Europe Programme, broadband deployment policies and the post-2027 CAP; affirms the necessity of both equipping rural areas with digital infrastructure services and of boosting the skills necessary for remote work, precision farming and digital entrepreneurship; underlines that digital infrastructure services must be affordable for rural citizens; highlights that such investment is key to reducing rural depopulation and enhancing the attractiveness of agriculture and rural living for younger generations;

Added53. Calls for greater awareness of the importance of the mental health of farmers and agricultural workers given the high rate of suicide in this sector; emphasises that this is an alarming phenomenon caused, inter alia, by high levels of stress, uncertainty, onerous administrative burdens, as well as vulnerability, social isolation, lack of holiday, debt and economic hardship faced by farmers; highlights, furthermore, that stressful farm inspection procedures place additional pressure on farmers in managing their holdings and calls on the Member States to develop mechanisms to address this; urges the Commission and the Member States to foster collaboration to develop a comprehensive mental health strategy for farmers and ensure that appropriate support measures are included in the next CAP; emphasises the value of approaches tailor made to local circumstances, using various types of support services, including current farm advisory networks and other rural community support groups; considers that it is necessary to develop psychological support programmes, as well as measures promoting administrative simplification and work-life balance, all of which will improve the quality of life of EU farmers and workers; reiterates the need for farmers to receive fair prices for their market and non-market products;

Added54. Stresses that over 70 % of consumers in the EU base their purchasing decisions on the information on packaging and draws attention to the real risk of consumers being misled; calls, therefore, for the consolidation of harmonised EU labelling to ensure a fair and equitable system, providing transparency about the country of origin, quality assurances and production standards, including animal welfare and organic standards, of EU agri-food products; considers that it is necessary to guarantee traceability and competitiveness in the single market and globally through clear rules to avoid distortions and misleading practices in order to protect the integrity of EU food systems, enhance their promotion and reinforce consumer information and awareness;

Added55. Advocates enhanced protection measures for regional products, including strengthening the regimes of protected designations of origin, protected geographical indications and traditional specialities guaranteed through streamlined procedures that safeguard against misuse and counterfeiting;