MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on rising food prices
9.2.2011
pursuant to Rule 110(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Nirj Deva, James Nicholson, Jan Zahradil, Janusz Wojciechowski, Michał Tomasz Kamiński on behalf of the ECR Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0114/2011
B7‑0119/2011
European Parliament resolution on rising food prices
The European Parliament,
– having regard to Article 39 TFEU,
– having regard to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness of 2005 and the Accra Agenda for Action of 2008,
– having regard to the recommendations of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) of April 2008,
– having regard to the Agricultural Outlook 2008-2017 released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),
– having regard to the conclusions and declaration issued by the FAO World Summit on Food Security held in Rome from 16 to 18 November 2009,
– having regard to the 2010 report by the UN Secretary-General on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration,
– having regard to the UNDP report entitled 'Beyond the Midpoint: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)' published in January 2010,
– having regard to the outcome of the ‘Health Check’ reform of the EU common agricultural policy of 20 November 2008,
– having regard to the outcomes of the UN High-Level Plenary meeting on Millennium Development Goals in New York on 20-22 September 2010,
– having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1337/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 establishing a facility for rapid response to soaring food prices in developing countries,
– having regard to its resolution of 25th October 2007 on rising feed and food prices, as well as its resolution of 22nd May 2008 on rising food prices in the European Union and developing countries,
– having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 13 January 2009 on the Common Agricultural Policy and Global Food Security,
– having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 26 November 2009 on the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Summit and food security,
– having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the European Union as a whole, including its Member States, remains the leading development aid donor, accounting for 56% of the worldwide total, worth €49 billion in 2009, which is confirmed by the EU governments’ collective pledges of reaching 0.56% and 0.70% Official Development Assistance as a percentage of Gross National Income (ODA/GNI) by 2010 and 2015 respectively,
B. whereas the European Union remains a major food producer, accounting for 17 % of the world’s wheat, 25 % of world’s milk production, 13% of the world's poultry production, 20 % of the world’s pigmeat production and 30 % of the world’s beef production; whereas it is also a major importer of agricultural products, falling significantly short of self-sufficiency in numerous agricultural commodities,
C. whereas the world population is expected to surpass 9 billion in 2050, global food demand is expected to double in the same period; whereas the UN FAO expects that global agricultural production will need to increase by 70 percent between now and then; this will need to be done using less water and pesticides and with less agricultural land available due to the effects of climate change,
D. whereas the global economic downturn, rising food and fuel prices has worsened the food situation in many developing countries, especially the least-developed countries (LDCs), thus partly setting back the last decade's progress on poverty reduction,
E. whereas globally, the food price crisis has pushed millions more into poverty and hunger; where as the rises in global food prices in 2008 caused riots in a number of developing countries including Haiti and parts of Asia; whereas more recent unrest in parts of northern Africa has also been attributed to concerns over rising food prices,
F. whereas the 2008 agriculture price increases resulted from a number of structural factors, such as global population growth, rising incomes in emerging economies and the development of new market outlets and lower productivity growth; whereas temporary factors also played a role such as adverse weather conditions, trade restrictions and exchange rate developments,
G. whereas many developing countries are not realising their food production potential,
H. whereas a serious obstacle to increased agricultural output in developing countries is that small farmers often lack access to microcredit for investment in improved seeds, fertilisers and irrigation mechanisms and the necessary range of crop protection tools to protect their harvests from pests and diseases, sometimes owing to the fact that they do not own their land and therefore do not have any collateral for loans,
I. whereas the consequences of climate change on farming, mainly the reduction of crop yields because of repeated water shortages, droughts, or, in contrast, floods and landslides, burden heavily agricultural activities in the EU and developing countries, both falling significantly short of self-sufficiency in numerous agricultural commodities,
J. whereas unsustainable farming practices, such as uncontrolled deforestation, directly contribute to the scarcity of good quality arable land for healthy food production,
Challenges and EU development policy
1. Stresses the paramount importance of sound financial management in respect to all EU development and humanitarian aid - ensuring that it is always used where the need is greatest, notably because European institutions involved in the decision-making and implementation of this aid must be fully accountable for to the European citizens and taxpayers;
2. Notes that the effects of longstanding underinvestment in agriculture and rural development have recently been further exacerbated by food, financial and economic crises, among other factors, stresses that while strides have been made, the overall efforts so far have fallen short of achieving the Millennium Development Goals and the commitments of the World Food Summits; notes that collectively steps have to be taken to reverse this trend;
3. Stresses the need to give small farmers in developing countries greater access to property rights, microcredit including non-profit microcredit schemes that operate close to the needs of local food producers, as well as the purchase of fertilisers, especially in poorer developing countries;
4. Calls on the EU and developing countries to develop joint research and training capacities in sustainable farming methods and new technologies, notably through public private partnerships and joint ventures; including producing value addition at the point of food collection and storage through packaging and processing;
5. Urges the EU Member States and the international community to assist the WFP in facing up to new challenges in the fight against hunger due to soaring food and oil prices, weather shocks and declining food stocks;
6. Welcomes the assistance of the Food facility established by the EU with a budget of EUR 1 billion to provide from 2009 to 2011 rapid support to over 50 priority countries worldwide facing soaring food prices with the aim to increase the local food production capacity and supply, as well as to create better storage facilities to eliminate the losses which are currently extremely high, thus empowering local farming communities; considers, however, that further extension of this Food facility, or additional allocation of funding to it, should not be automatic, but decided based on an independent impact assessment of the funds disbursements' efficiency in improving food security in all the beneficiary countries;
Sustainable food production and international trade
7. Notes that recent flooding in Queensland, Australia, which wiped out many hectares of productive agriculture land, together with other climatic events around the world, will have a serious impact on this year’s global harvest;
8. Notes that global food security is a question of the utmost urgency for the European Union and calls for immediate and consistent action to ensure food security for both EU citizens and at the global level; considers it important to recognise the value of all the world’s farming and food cultures; stresses that food should be available at reasonable prices for consumers;
9. Recognises that present international and regional agreements have proved incapable of normalising market supply and trade, mainly because significant barriers to international trade still exist in the agriculture sector, as identified by the protectionist measures taken by many countries in response to the recent rise if food prices. This recent surge in food prices should be a wake up call for governments throughout the world that agriculture production is not to be taken for granted and that unreasonable barriers to trade significantly contribute to an inefficiency of global supply in agricultural products;
10. Notes with concern the escalating costs of farm inputs (price-increases in fertilisers, seeds and fuel.) which have translated into a rise in costs for which farmers (particularly in the livestock sector) have not all been equally compensated and which significantly eroded any potential increase in farm incomes arising from the higher commodity and food prices, thus eroding the stimulus to increase production; is concerned that dramatic increases in input prices could result in less usage and potentially reduced output which will exacerbate the food crisis in Europe and the world;
11. Takes into account that to feed a world population expected to surpass 9 billion in 2050 agricultural output will have to increase by 70% between now and then using less land, less water and less pesticides;
12. Calls on the Commission to put pressure on EU trading partners such as Russia to refrain from taking protectionist measures in response to rising food prices;
13. Instructs the President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Member States and the ACP-EU JPA.