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AMENDMENTS

The Committee on ~~Economic~~Agriculture and ~~Monetary~~Rural ~~Affairs~~Development ~~presents~~submits the following to the Committee on Budgets, as the committee ~~responsible, the following:~~responsible:

Amendment 1

Motion for a resolution

~~Paragraph 1~~

Recital A a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

1. Underlines that the post-2027 long-term budget must be designed and resourced so as to enable the Union to deliver on its policy objectives, tackle the growing challenges it faces, manage and repay its debt sustainably, respond to shocks and crises and adjust to evolving spending needs;

Aa. whereas the new goals of the EU and of the MFF must not come at the expense of key EU policies, namely structural and cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy (CAP); whereas in recent years, CAP spending has decreased to only 0.36 % of the EU’s GDP, despite it playing a crucial role in EU agriculture and in ensuring food security, competitiveness and economic stability in open and volatile markets, and in view of growing planetary challenges, notably extreme weather and climate events, which have caused economic losses of over EUR 650 billion since 1980; whereas rural areas must be strengthened through the CAP, including by the promotion of sustainable and extensive farming;

1. Underlines that the post-2027 test long-term budget must be designed and resourced so as to enable the Union to deliver on its policy objectives, tackle the growing challenges it faces, manage and repay its debt sustainably, respond to shocks and crises and adjust to evolving spending needs; recalls that the current MFF and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) amount to almost EUR 2 trillion for the current period and that high inflation rates have decreased the impact of EU spending;

~~Or. en~~

Amendment 2

Motion for a resolution

~~Paragraph 4~~

Recital F a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

~~4. Underlines that a simpler, more flexible MFF requires more robust parliamentary accountability;~~

Fa. whereas the automatic 2 % deflator was agreed in 2020 in a non-inflationary context; whereas inflation rates under the current MFF have been well above 2 %, and their cumulative impact has led to a significant reduction in the EU budget’s purchasing power and a loss in value of the financial allocations under the MFF headings, including the CAP; whereas there is a need to finance effective tools against the various sources of inflation, including food inflation;

4. Underlines that a simpler, more flexible MFF requires more robust parliamentary accountability; underlines the need for any future budget to fully respect Parliament’s role as budgetary authority and its co-decision rights, as defined in the Treaties, as regards the design, scrutiny, allocation and evaluation of the budget; notes in this respect that national parliaments should be empowered to fulfil their oversight role and exercise their rights in holding the executive accountable when making commitments with the European Union through national plans;

~~Or. en~~

Amendment 3

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 105

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

5. Considers that, in view of the structural challenges facing the Union, the post-2027 MFF should adjust its spending focus to ensure that the Union can meet its strategic policy aims as detailed below;

10. Insists that, in the next MFF, more must be done to maximise the potential of the role of the European Investment Bank Group – together with other international and national financial institutions – in lending in strategic policy areas, such as climate and, latterly, dual-use defence projects; underlines the need to leverage private capital to cover the large investment gap, identified, for example, in the Draghi report, especially in the area of venture capital;

5. Considers that, in view of the structural challenges facing the Union, the post-2027 MFF should adjust its spending focus, without neglecting the strategic key areas of cohesion policy and the CAP, to ensure that the Union can meet its strategic policy aims as detailed below;

~~Or. en~~

Amendment 4

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 509

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

50. Calls for the consolidation of a robust rule of law toolbox, building on the current conditionality provisions under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and the horizontal enabling conditions in the Common Provisions Regulation; underlines the need for far greater transparency and consistency with regard to the application of tools to protect the rule of law and for Parliament’s role to be strengthened in the application and scrutiny of such measures; insists, furthermore, on the need for consistency across instruments when assessing breaches of the rule of law in Member States;

9. Stresses that the Union budget must be carefully coordinated with national spending and designed such that it can de-risk, mobilise and leverage private investment effectively, enabling start-ups and SMEs to access funds more readily; calls, therefore, for programmes such as InvestEU, which ensure additionality and follow a market-based, demand-driven approach, to be significantly reinforced in the next MFF; considers that budgetary guarantees are an effective use of resources and calls for them to be simplified;

50. Calls for the consolidation of a robust and harmonised rule of law toolbox, building on the current conditionality provisions under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and the horizontal enabling conditions in the Common Provisions Regulation, as well as the relevant provisions of the Financial Regulation; insists that the toolkit should cover the entire EU budget and ensure none of the instruments used allows backsliding; underlines the need for far greater transparency and consistency with regard to the application of tools to protect the rule of law and for Parliament’s role to be strengthened in the application and scrutiny of such measures; calls for the introduction of a no-fallback clause to ensure that reforms are not rolled back; insists, furthermore, on the need for consistency across instruments when assessing breaches of the rule of law in Member States;

9. Stresses that the Union budget must be carefully coordinated with national spending and designed such that it can de-risk, mobilise and leverage private investment effectively, enabling start-ups and SMEs in all sectors to access funds more readily; calls, therefore, for the provision of effective transformation funding through programmes such as InvestEU and others, which ensure additionality and follow a market-based, demand-driven approach, to be significantly reinforced in the next MFF; considers that budgetary guarantees are an effective use of resources and calls for them to be simplified;

~~Or. en~~

Amendment 5

Motion for a resolution

~~Paragraph 60~~

Paragraph 11 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

60. Stresses that the next MFF must be designed so as to simplify the lives of beneficiaries, harmonise rules wherever possible and cut unnecessary red tape and must be implemented as close to people as possible;

11a. Stresses the need for increased funding for research, development and innovation in the agriculture and agri-food sectors in the EU’s next research and innovation programme, in particular to promote precision farming, new genomic techniques and biocontrol solutions, where possible, as alternatives to pesticides, and to encourage the use of robotics and drones, digitisation for the modernisation of sustainable irrigation systems and water reuse to increase water availability for food production; emphasises the vital role of innovation in climate change mitigation strategies and in ensuring the resilience of food production systems;

60. Stresses that the next MFF must be designed so as to simplify the lives of implementing partners and beneficiaries with the help of a single rule book for all EU programmes, harmonise rules and definitions wherever possible and cut unnecessary red tape and must be implemented as close to people as possible in order to increase the absorption rate; calls for the single rule book to function as a unified framework across multiple programmes for simplified implementation for partners such as the European Investment Bank (EIB), allowing them to focus on differing objectives rather than diverging definitions, without undermining project goals and relevant standards;

~~Or. en~~

Amendment 6

Motion for a resolution

~~Paragraph 61 a (new)~~

Paragraph 12

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

61 a. Underlines that simplification should be designed primarily to reduce complexity, delays in implementation and the reporting burden for final beneficiaries and implementers; regrets that innovation is hampered by the disproportional administrative burden and time lags for start-ups and SMEs; believes that the use of de minimis clauses and the stringent implementation of the once-only principle for reporting is necessary to further unlock the potential of European innovators; calls for an initiative to speed up administrative procedures for start-ups and SMEs;

12. Stresses that the next MFF should include much greater funding for energy, transport and digital infrastructure, with priority given to cross-border connections and national links with European added value; considers that such infrastructure goes hand in hand with a deepening of the single market;

~~Or. en~~

12. Stresses that the next MFF should include increased and simplified funding for energy and energy efficiency, transport and infrastructure, in particular digital and sustainable infrastructure, including water retention and storage infrastructure and modern irrigation facilities, in order to increase water efficiency and help to prevent floods, combat drought, address water loss, overcome the urgent challenges of water availability for use in agriculture and make the EU more resilient to climate change, with priority given to cross-border connections and national links with European added value; considers that such infrastructure goes hand in hand with a deepening of the single market; highlights that infrastructure supporting food production strengthens rural areas, the EU’s food sovereignty and its competitive edge;

Amendment 7

Motion for a resolution

~~Paragraph 68 a (new)~~

Paragraph 17

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

68 a. Recalls that the RRF replaced the proposals on the Budgetary Instrument for Competitiveness and Convergence (BICC) and on the Reform Support Programme 2021 - 2027 (RSP), which partly aimed at establishing the euro area budget; calls for the future MFF to include sufficient fiscal stabilisation elements to allow it to channel investment based on evolving trends in indicators such as GDP and unemployment;

17. Emphasises that food security is a vital component of strategic autonomy and that the next MFF must continue to support the Union’s farming and fisheries sectors, including small and young farmers and fishers, and help the sectors to better protect the climate and biodiversity; highlights the crucial role of the common agricultural policy in increasing productivity through technical progress, ensuring a fair standard of living for farmers and guaranteeing food security; calls for adequate funding for the common agricultural policy in the next MFF;

~~Or. en~~

17. 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 and fisheries sectors, including small and family farms and young farmers and fishers; affirms that a modern and simplified CAP is crucial for increasing productivity through technical progress, ensuring a fair standard of living for farmers, food security and the production of safe, high-quality and affordable food for Europeans, while contributing to the social and economic vitality of rural areas, in particular the most vulnerable ones, fostering generational renewal and helping the farming sector to transition towards more sustainable practices, including the protection of the climate and biodiversity through spending and investment, which are, among other things, made resilient and adapted to extreme weather events, without compromising farmers’ activities; calls for an increased and dedicated budget for the CAP in the next MFF, safeguarding it from possible cuts, in order to maintain its integrity and commonality, as well as the coherence and interconnection between its first and second pillar, and therefore opposes the idea of integrating the CAP into a single fund for each Member State; calls for additional dedicated funding sources to be explored where appropriate, including outside of the CAP, in order to cope with natural disasters and provide incentives to farmers and foresters to contribute to climate change mitigation, biodiversity recovery and nature protection, without measures causing a regression in EU agricultural production;

Amendment 8

Motion for a resolution

~~Paragraph 75~~

Paragraph 17 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

75. Points out that any application of an RRF-style delivery model in the next MFF would have to correct the RRF’s fundamental flaws, by involving regional and local authorities from design to delivery through a place-based and multilevel governance approach, ensuring the cross-border dimension of investment projects, focusing on results and impact rather than outputs, guaranteeing full transparency in relation to final recipients of Union spending and safeguarding Parliament’s role as legislator, budgetary and discharge authority and in holding the executive to account;

17a. Stresses that the new global challenges facing EU farmers, including the present geopolitical situation, climate change and rising input prices, require sound financial allocation in the next CAP; emphasises that, in order to address these challenges, taking into account the lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis, and to avoid reductions to farmers’ support, the CAP urgently needs an increased budget in the next MFF that is indexed to inflation through annual re-evaluation; underlines, in that respect, that direct payments in the current form generate clear EU added value and should continue to strengthen income security, production and protection against price volatility, better targeting persons actively engaged in agricultural production and the provision of public goods, while respecting realistic and balanced EU environmental and social standards; calls for a fair and efficient distribution of CAP support within and among the Member States; calls for the continuation and reinforcement of measures that maintain production in vulnerable areas and guarantee the viability of rural communities and the adequacy of public infrastructure, specifically regarding digitalisation and particularly through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, and the renewed involvement of local and regional authorities in the management of such measures; stresses the need to increase and reform the agricultural reserve in order to respond effectively and rapidly to future crises that the European agricultural sector will have to deal with, and to establish new tools for managing natural, market and sanitary risks, such as an EU reinsurance scheme to better mitigate the effects of future crises and provide greater stability for farmers; emphasises that specific solutions must be found for the farmers in eastern Europe who are most affected by the cascade effects of Russia’s war against Ukraine, such as high input prices, inflation and market disturbances; urges the Commission to continue to set up the necessary financial and legal framework for the food supply chain in order to strengthen the position of farmers and better combat unfair trading practices; calls on the Commission to support EU farmers by promoting agri-food products inside and outside the Union through a dynamic and stronger EU promotion policy; regrets the funding cuts made to the programme on the promotion of agricultural products during the review of the current MFF; emphasises that the next MFF must include dedicated funds for agri-tourism, female entrepreneurship, vocational training and technological innovation in agriculture;

75. Points out that any application of an RRF-style delivery model in the next MFF would have to correct the RRF’s fundamental flaws, by involving regional and local authorities from design to delivery through a place-based and multilevel governance approach, ensuring the cross-border dimension of investment projects, developing a clear methodology for milestones, targets and disbursements, focusing on results and impact rather than outputs, ensuring a single audit trail, guaranteeing a common definition and full transparency in relation to final recipients of Union spending and safeguarding Parliament’s role as legislator, budgetary and discharge authority and in holding the executive to account;

~~Or. en~~

Amendment 9

Motion for a resolution

~~Paragraph 82~~

Paragraph 17 b (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

17b. Stresses the vital importance of the scheme of specific measures for agriculture in favour of the outermost regions of the Union (POSEI) and the smaller Aegean islands scheme for maintaining agricultural activity and supplying food and agricultural products in the outermost regions and the smaller Aegean islands; calls for the maintenance of their autonomy and an increase in their financial resources; regrets that the levels of support offered by these schemes have not been adjusted for inflation and urges the Commission to rectify this situation;

82. Underlines that, as described above, the budgetary needs post-2027 will be significantly higher than the amounts allocated to the 2021-2027 MFF; insists, therefore, that the Union will only be able to tackle the significant challenges it faces and deliver on its policy objectives if the next MFF is endowed with the resources necessary to meet the increasing budgetary needs; underlines the specific regional economic, social and security challenges, which need to be reflected in the future MFF; underlines the need to ensure upward socio-economic convergence within the EU;

~~Or. en~~

Amendment 10

Motion for a resolution

~~Paragraph 85~~

Paragraph 17 d (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

85. Recalls its support for the amended Commission proposal on the system of own resources; calls on the Council to adopt this proposal as a matter of urgency; points, furthermore, to the need to explore additional innovative and genuine new own resources, in order to cover the higher spending needs;

17d. Calls on the Commission to strengthen animal health measures in the agricultural sector by coordinating the purchase and supply of veterinary vaccines at EU level through a preparedness mechanism, and by fostering the development of these vaccines in the EU; calls for adequate funding for this mechanism;

85. Recalls its support for the amended Commission proposal on the system of own resources; is highly concerned by the complete absence of progress on the reform of the system of own resources in the Council in particular, in view of the increasing needs and budgetary demands; considers that the introduction of genuinely new revenue sources is indispensable to cover the additional budgetary burden arising from NextGenerationEU borrowing as well as the new political priorities;

~~Or. en~~

Amendment 11

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 8518 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

85 a. Urges, therefore, the Commission to maximise pressure on the Member States to find a swift agreement on the new own resources package and calls on the Council to adopt this proposal as a matter of urgency without further delay; urges, furthermore, the Commission to continue its efforts to identify fresh and preferably genuinely new own resources and other revenue sources for the EU budget beyond the IIA;

18a. Emphasises that focusing on the European Competitiveness Fund could lead to excessive support being given to more advanced economies and less attention being given to less developed regions, widening the gap between the most and least prosperous regions of the EU; calls, therefore, for the promotion of a balance between competitiveness and economic inclusion, and for the European Competitiveness Fund to be linked to compliance with criteria for reducing regional and social inequalities;

~~Or. en~~

Amendment 12

~~ANNEX: ENTITIES OR PERSONS FROM WHOM THE RAPPORTEUR FOR OPINION HAS RECEIVED INPUT~~

Motion for a resolution

~~Pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure, the rapporteur for opinion declares that he received input from the following entities or persons in the preparation of the draft opinion:~~

Paragraph 19

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

19. Stresses that cohesion policy funding must tackle the key challenges the Union faces, such as demographic change and depopulation, and target the regions and people most in need; highlights, in particular, the importance of enhanced support to address the EU-wide housing crisis affecting millions of families and young people;

19. Stresses that cohesion policy funding must tackle the key challenges the Union faces, such as demographic change, the digital and sustainable transition, resilience and depopulation, and target the regions and people most in need by promoting employment, innovation, growth and local development, particularly in rural areas, and by providing investment support for farmers and businesses; highlights, in particular, the importance of enhanced support to address the EU-wide housing crisis affecting millions of families and young people; recalls the importance of a robust and productive agricultural sector for EU regions and rural economies; calls for a significant increase in the minimum share of the European Social Fund Plus allocated to food banks;

Amendment 13

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 22

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

22. Recalls that the Union is committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2050, which requires a decarbonisation of the economy through the deployment of clean technologies, improved energy and transport infrastructure and more energy-efficient housing; notes that the Commission estimates additional investment needs to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 at 1.5 % of GDP per year compared to the decade 2011-2020 and that, while the Union budget alone cannot cover the gap, it must remain a vital contributor; emphasises the strategic importance of investing in and valuing rural areas for the energy, digital and sustainable transition, while recognising their central role in mitigating the impact of climate change and increasing environmental resilience; emphasises that EU farmers should not bear the entire burden of the decarbonisation of agriculture; calls for incentives to support farmers’ decarbonisation efforts, particularly through a supply chain approach, in order to maximise the EU’s agricultural capacity for absorbing carbon emissions, improving biodiversity and increasing water quality and soil health;

Amendment 14

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 25

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

25. Recalls that security is the foundation for the Union’s prosperity and social model and that the next MFF must invest significantly more in safeguarding the Union against the myriad threats it faces; emphasises that the 30 October 2024 report by Sauli Niinistö, entitled ‘Safer Together – Strengthening Europe’s Civilian and Military Preparedness and Readiness’, recognises food as one of the most critical areas in the provision of essential services to citizens and highlights its importance for the resilience and security of the EU with regard to emerging challenges, including supply chain and trade disruptions, and hybrid threats; supports the proposal to develop an EU-wide strategic stockpiling regime, including of strategic food stocks; notes that food systems are a key pillar of European security and that any increase to the EU’s defence and security budget should be accompanied by a corresponding increase in funding for food security and sovereignty, including funding that strengthens European agricultural production and reduces vulnerabilities caused by an over-reliance on agri-food imports;

Amendment 15

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 35 a (new)

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

35a. Calls on the Commission to better recognise the strategic importance of agriculture and food and to reflect this in its trade policies; stresses that full reciprocity of production standards, in particular as regards plant protection products and animal welfare, should be enforced for imported products through trade agreements and EU legislation to ensure a level playing field and to meet societal demands; takes note of the Commission’s announcement that it will create a reserve of EUR 1 billion to compensate EU farmers for any possible negative effects borne by them as a result of the implementation of the EU-Mercosur agreement; insists that this reserve should be in addition to the increased funding of the CAP;

Amendment 16

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 44

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

44. Underlines that pre-accession support to Ukraine has to be distinct from financial assistance for reconstruction and post-war recovery, where needs are far more substantial and require a concerted international effort, of which support through the Union budget should be an important part; stresses the need to establish dedicated frameworks for trade cooperation with EU accession countries to ensure effective alignment with EU standards, without undermining the competitiveness of EU operators;

Amendment 17

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 45

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

45. Is convinced that the existing mandatory revision clause in the event of enlargement should be maintained in the next framework; stresses that national envelopes should not be affected in the event of enlargement; underlines that the next MFF will also have to reform key spending areas, such as cohesion and agriculture, and plan for appropriate transitional and phasing-in measures;

45. Is convinced that the existing mandatory revision clause should be maintained in the next framework, in order to urgently adapt the EU budget in the event of enlargement; stresses that national envelopes should not be affected, particularly regarding the CAP; underlines that the next MFF should also provide key spending areas, such as cohesion and agriculture, with appropriate transitional and phasing-in measures, carefully assessing the specific impacts of enlargement on different sectors, while safeguarding the viability of rural communities and the profitability of EU farming;

Amendment 18

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 47

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

47. Stresses that instability in neighbouring regions, poverty, underlying trends in economic development and demographic changes continue to generate migration flows towards the Union, placing significant pressure on asylum and migration systems; underlines that the post-2027 MFF must support the full implementation of the Union’s Asylum and Migration Pact, in line with fundamental rights and EU values; underlines, moreover, that, in line with the Pact, cooperation with third countries on migration must abide by EU law and respect international standards;

Amendment 19

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 60

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

60. Stresses that the next MFF must be designed so as to simplify the lives of beneficiaries, harmonise rules wherever possible and reduce unnecessary red tape and the burden of carrying out controls, and must be implemented as close to people as possible; calls, in this context, for the CAP to be simplified and made less bureaucratic, as a matter of urgency, by streamlining and facilitating administrative processes, while maintaining ambitious production standards, to ensure more effective and accessible use of the supports available;

Amendment 20

Motion for a resolution

Paragraph 88

Motion for a resolution

Amendment

88. Emphasises Parliament’s commitment to play its role fully throughout the process; believes that the design of the MFF should be bottom-up and based on the extensive involvement of stakeholders; underlines, furthermore, the need for a strategic dialogue among the three institutions in the run-up to the MFF proposals;

88. Emphasises Parliament’s commitment to play its role fully throughout the process, while demanding that it have a more significant role in the allocation of funds, ensuring transparency and consistency with EU objectives; believes that the design of the MFF should be bottom-up and based on the extensive involvement of stakeholders; underlines, furthermore, the need for a strategic dialogue among the three institutions in the run-up to the MFF proposals, with a view to reaching rapid agreement on a reliable and ambitious MFF;

ANNEX: ENTITIES OR PERSONS FROM WHOM THE RAPPORTEUR HAS RECEIVED INPUT

Pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure, the rapporteur for opinion declares that he received input from the following entities or persons in the preparation of the opinion:

Entity and/or person

~~Please insert a person or an entity.~~

Farm Europe

The list above is drawn up under the exclusive responsibility of the rapporteur for ~~the~~ opinion.

Where natural persons are identified in the list by their name, by their function or by both, the rapporteur for opinion declares that he has submitted to the natural persons concerned the European Parliament’s Data Protection Notice No 484 (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/data-protect/index.do), which sets out the conditions applicable to the processing of their personal data and the rights linked to that processing.

INFORMATION ON ADOPTION BY THE COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

Date adopted

27.3.2025

Result of final vote

–:

Members present for the final vote

Stefano Bonaccini, Daniel Buda, Waldemar Buda, Barry Cowen, Ivan David, Csaba Dömötör, Luke Ming Flanagan, Maria Grapini, Cristina Guarda, Martin Häusling, Stefan Köhler, Tomáš Kubín, Norbert Lins, Cristina Maestre, Dario Nardella, Maria Noichl, Bert-Jan Ruissen, Arash Saeidi, Eric Sargiacomo, Raffaele Stancanelli, Anna Strolenberg

Substitutes present for the final vote

Peter Agius, Sakis Arnaoutoglou, Benoit Cassart, Annalisa Corrado, Lena Düpont, Charles Goerens, Pär Holmgren, Ilia Lazarov, Gabriel Mato, Ciaran Mullooly, Elena Sancho Murillo, Francesco Ventola, Michal Wiezik

Members under Rule 216(7) present for the final vote

Pascal Arimont, Stefano Cavedagna, Mélanie Disdier, Gabriella Gerzsenyi, Virginie Joron, Ondřej Krutílek, András Tivadar Kulja, Jeroen Lenaers, Jüri Ratas, Julie Rechagneux, Andreas Schwab

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL BY THE COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

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