Speeches

Madam Commissioner, can you hear me now? Very briefly, I ask you why the Commission, on the one hand, has temporarily interrupted the ecological focus area, that is to say, the obligation to set aside 5% of the arable area to increase European production and, on the other hand, with this measure that is announced on plant protection products, wants to reduce European production? Because this is the impact analysis that the Commission's own proposal presents.

Thank you for your answer, Commissioner, but my question is as follows: Does it not think that there is a contradiction if the Commission, on the one hand, wants to increase European agricultural production – and indeed we have temporarily suspended the ecological focus area, i.e. the compulsory set-aside of 5% of arable land – but then, on the other hand, puts forward a proposal that will reduce European production? I think there is some inconsistency that needs to be overcome.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has given us an insight into how, for too long, we have taken food security for granted. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Putin has created a crisis, he is creating a crisis, with access to food in the Mediterranean basin, undermining the geopolitical balance and creating the conditions for a resumption of the migratory waves that the Union has already laboriously faced during the Arab springs. An extremely delicate context which, however, the first drafts of new legislation on plant protection products seem to be completely ignored, Commissioner. In these drafts, the Commission itself estimates significant impacts on European production, resulting both from higher prices for our consumers and from increased imports from third countries. All this will not guarantee any respect of our sustainability standards and all without offering our farmers any valid alternative to the use of chemistry. As so many other colleagues have said, Commissioner, do you not think it is time to break the deadlock and put the new legislation on sustainable biotechnology on the table? So you can finally reduce the chemistry.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the extraordinary development of organic farming at European level over the last ten years is a demonstration of how our farmers, if properly guided and incentivised, are essential allies in providing environmental services to the entire community and in achieving the objectives of the Green Deal. A model that therefore deserves to be strengthened through a targeted action plan and through the sharing and implementation on a European scale of good practices developed by the most virtuous Member States. We cannot therefore afford, Commissioner, that ambitious objectives set by the Commission degrade the very high quality of European production, opening the door to the import of organic products that do not meet our standards of environmental, but also social and economic sustainability. That is why we are calling for a rigorous impact assessment so that the target of 25% of agricultural land under organic farming becomes an opportunity for our producers and consumers, with the aim of raising the quality of our production and not devaluing it.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, for too long Europe has seen peace, as well as food security, as something acquired. The Russian attack on the Ukrainian people has undermined this belief, with profound repercussions from a humanitarian, political, social and economic point of view. The measures put in place today, which meet the demands of this Parliament, dear Commissioner, are a first and important signal to our producers: the Union stands by your side, with choices for increased productivity and with the mobilisation of EUR 1.5 billion to support the sectors most affected. However, we cannot exploit the war and call into question the strategic objectives set by the Green Deal. On the contrary, the renewed focus on food security must create the conditions for achieving greater strategic autonomy of the Union, including on agri-food markets. To win this challenge, you need a real Global Food Policy, which goes beyond positions that would lead to the de-growth of our production potential and therefore makes farmers a formidable weapon to ensure sufficient, sustainable and quality food for all.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, less than a month after the adoption in this House of the recommendations of the ANIT Committee, we are once again discussing animal welfare, which is a sign of the Union's attention to this challenge. Animal health is our health and our farmers and breeders are aware of this interconnectedness. Thanks to their efforts, today the Union is a global leader in upholding the highest standards of animal health and welfare. But that is not enough, and that is why, Commissioner, we are calling for stricter application by all the Member States of the rules in force, so that no breeder can be placed at a competitive disadvantage simply because he has taken care of his animals. It is now up to us to guide and incentivise our farmers towards a further qualitative leap in farming systems, which will benefit citizens and consumers and which must be defended internationally, ensuring full respect by our trading partners.

Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, after more than three years of negotiations, today we are presenting to the citizens of Europe the reform of the CAP, which will accompany our farmers until 2027. A reform that our group has criticised, expressing its opposition to the renationalisation of European intervention for the agricultural sector, but on which we have continued to work improving it, until we reach the current balance between the three levels of economic, social and environmental sustainability. I therefore thank the entire negotiating team, my colleagues Pina Picierno, Eric Andrieu and Maria Noichl, and the entire technical team that made this result possible. Without Parliament's push, the hallmarks of this agreement would not have come to light. Starting from the historic result on the workers' rights front, for the first time we have introduced a system of conditionality that will prevent public funds from ending up in the pockets of those who do not respect workers' rights, putting an end to the distortion of competition between entrepreneurs, who profit at the expense of the protection of rights, and the vast majority of farmers, who instead take care of workers. In the same way, we have safeguarded the role of the regions, which will continue to be protagonists in the drafting of strategic plans, with that knowledge of the territorial dynamics necessary to overcome the environmental and social challenges that await us. Without Parliament, the environmental ambition of a policy that instead, from 2023, will allocate a quarter of direct aid to ecoschemes and at least 35% of rural development funds to measures with a high environmental value would have been mortified. These results will determine the fundamental contribution of the CAP and our farmers to the achievement of the objectives that the Union has set itself. Green Deal. All this without renouncing the economic dimension of the CAP. We want an even stronger and more competitive agriculture, capable of guaranteeing food security for our citizens. For this reason, income support remains an essential element, accompanied by enhanced risk management measures and plafond more for youth support and coupled aid. In addition, emblematic crops of our agri-food system, such as fruit and vegetables, wine and olive oil, together with others, depending on national specificities, will continue to be supported through ad hoc sectoral interventions. And all this without forgetting the geographical indications of the protection consortia, which will finally be able to manage the product offer and therefore better respond to market fluctuations. Today we will vote on all these results. I therefore also ask everyone to vote in favour of this reform, and I also strongly ask all my colleagues in my group, who do not all have the same satisfaction with the results. I believe that we must proudly claim this result. It has been many years of negotiations, but it has been worth it, for a stronger, common, fairer and more sustainable agricultural policy.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, our farmers and agri-food producers have shown extraordinary resilience and self-sacrifice in the face of the health and economic crisis that has hit us. Despite this, some of the most emblematic sectors of our food tradition continue to suffer the consequences due to a market demand still far from pre-pandemic levels. For this reason, the Committee on Agriculture insists on the need for an additional financial envelope for the year 2022, which can support the recovery of our farmers. On this point, Commissioner, there is an urgent need to reflect on the usefulness and effectiveness of the CAP crisis reserve, especially in view of the significant improvements in its functioning, which Parliament has incorporated into the process of reforming the common agricultural policy. We can no longer allow rural areas to be left in the background, jeopardising the sense of European belonging of some of our fellow citizens. For this reason, we hope that the long-term vision presented by the Commission will be followed by concrete and adequately funded initiatives as early as 2022.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, as rapporteur for the Committee on International Trade, I would first like to thank all the rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs for their work on a dossier that must become a pillar of the European Green Deal. However, we believe, dear Commissioner, that achieving the objectives of the 'Farm to Fork' strategy cannot be separated from our trade policy. The Union must play a leading role in the global transition to production standards based on respect for human and labour rights, fair competition and environmental protection. We therefore need genuine reciprocity of standards for all products imported into the Union. We must avoid the risk that the "Farm to Fork" strategy will reduce our production potential, opening the door to imports that would not contribute at all to the objectives that it sets. We also call for binding sustainable development chapters in all our trade agreements. The Commission's statements this morning also leave us unsatisfied. We need an ex ante evaluation of the combined impact of all the targets and proposals proportional to the achievement of these objectives, which safeguard the competitiveness of our producers. Competitiveness that will also have to be based on a decisive step forward by the Union in research and innovation, so that our producers have effective alternatives available, starting from sustainable biotechnologies to produce more, in a more environmentally and consumer-friendly way.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Mr High Representative, our relations with the United States are at a turning point. While it is true that, since taking office, the Biden administration has often shown a willingness to work together among allies, a step change is now needed to establish a partnership capable of meeting the challenges ahead. The positive signs, starting from the solution of the Boeing-Airbus affair, which so unfairly weighed on our agri-food producers, up to the first meeting of the Trade and Technology Council, must now be followed by concrete actions on issues that can no longer be postponed, such as the achievement of lasting solutions for the aluminium and steel sector. Actions that will have to consolidate trade relations by strengthening the coordination of our priorities, such as the promotion of workers' rights, climate action, the management of technological transformation. We therefore need a renewed impetus in transatlantic relations, so that common challenges can truly turn into opportunities for our citizens and for our businesses.

Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, the summit on food systems on 23 September is an opportunity that we cannot miss if we really want to achieve the increasingly difficult goal of zero hunger by 2030. But for this summit to become a success, the European Union will have to play a leading role, leading the transition to standards based on respect for human rights, fair competition and environmental protection. Indeed, the objectives that the Union has set itself in recent years alone cannot be enough. Cooperation efforts are needed to strengthen scientific knowledge and technological availability, so that even developing countries can produce more food with less resources. Not only that, the emergency we are witnessing, with more than a third of the world's population unable to afford a healthy diet, obliges us to engage in the promotion and dissemination of healthier and more sustainable diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, capable of improving life expectations and ensuring a more efficient use of natural resources. Moreover, increasingly ambitious targets at European level cannot be separated from an equally ambitious trade policy, which sets international standards of environmental, social sustainability and respect for workers' rights, through systems of reciprocity and convergence in the common interest of our trading partners. We therefore call for binding sustainable development chapters in all EU trade agreements. Only through strong and example-based leadership will the Union be able to make a real contribution to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.