What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

Removed:112. Strongly opposes any form of expropriation of farms and agricultural land for the purpose of nature restoration;

Added:111. Encourages approaches to nature restoration that work in partnership with farmers and landowners, ensuring full respect for property rights;

Changed:D. whereas on 14 January 2025, more than 150 Nobel and World Food Prize laureates issued an open letter calling on world leaders to urgently prioritise agricultural research in order to meet the food needs of a projected 9.79,7 billion people by 2050;

Changed:L.M. whereas the CAP, as a cornerstone of the European consensus on development, is more relevant than ever in the light of current challenges; whereas the CAP supports approximately 9.19,1 million farms across Europe, representing a 37 % decrease in the number of farms compared to the 14.414,4 million recorded in 2005, and whereas this decline has been accompanied by a decline in farmers’ income of 12 % per hectare; whereas 77 % of EU citizens agree that the EU, through the CAP, is fulfilling its role in ensuring a stable supply of safe, healthy, sustainable and high-quality food at affordable prices for 450 million consumers; whereas rural areas cover 83 % of the EU’s territory and are home to 30 % of the EU population; whereas agricultural land accounts for 40 % of EU territory and the agri-food sector contributes approximately 7 % of the EU’s GDP, employing around 17 million people;

Changed:S.T. wwhereaswhereas under the 2021-2027 MFF, allocations to the CAP were reduced in both nominal and real terms compared to the previous MFF; whereas overall EU expenditure on the CAP has declined considerably in recent years despite a significant increase in the CAP’s environmental ambition; whereas this reduction has had a significant impact on farmers’ income;

Changed:AA.AB. whereas the EU is still facing a generational decline in the farming sector; whereas in 2020, the majority (57.6(57,6 %) of farmers in the EU, regardless of gender, were over 55 years of age, while those under 35 represented approximately 6 % – of whom only 1.71,7 % were women – and in many Member States, a very high proportion of farmers are aged 65 and over;

Changed:AJ.AK. whereas according to the European Environment Agency, droughts have caused annual economic losses of up to EUR 9 billion in the EU and this figure might reach up to EUR 28.628,6 billion by 2100, on top of losses caused by other effects of climate change; whereas farmers across the EU experience climate change first-hand, witnessing increasing desertification and a loss in agricultural productivity, with particular challenges for the Mediterranean regions; whereas extreme weather events, such as increasingly severe floods and droughts, put EU food security at risk;

Changed:AU.AV. whereas the EU’’sEU’s rural areas cover 83 % of the EU’s territory and are home to 137 million people; whereas the future and prosperity of rural areas are of paramount importance for Europe’s food security, autonomy and resilience; whereas agri-food systems allowed continued access to safe and high-quality food during the recent crises, despite inflation putting pressure on food affordability; whereas policies need to support both agriculture as a core activity and economic diversification through the development of sustainable rural tourism, small businesses, crafts and local services, in order for rural regions to be viable and attractive; whereas energy production can create additional revenue streams for farmers but should have no impact on food production; whereas LEADER and community-led local development (CLLD) have proven valuable tools for sustainable development and are at the core of EU policies; whereas the CAP alone cannot provide solutions to all the needs and challenges faced by rural areas;

Changed:63.62. Supports, with a view to the future, the Commission’s objective for the 2024-2029 period of reducing administrative burdens for farmers and simplifying legislation as a cross-cutting strategic priority, in order to facilitate access to CAP support and make implementation on the ground more effective; insists that this must be one of the guiding principles underpinning all actions aimed at achieving the social, environmental and economic sustainability of EU agriculture, without undermining the five main objectives of the CAP as set out in Article 39 TFEU; stresses that CAP simplification should not compromise a strong regulatory framework at EU level, as this is vital for preserving the commonality of the CAP and ensuring public support for the necessary financial resources; ’

Changed:69.68. Stresses the need to continue to assess the conditionality requirements of the CAP in order to ease administrative burdens, obstacles or economic barriers, reduce costs and avoid excessive implementation requirements for farmers; insists on farmers’ need for flexibility and simplicity, while continuing to promote responsible farming practices, through incentives, maintaining a level playing field and public support for the policy, in an approach that generates greater added value and more investment in innovation; ’

Changed:102101. Emphasises that ensuring generational renewal and female entrepreneurship are both essential to preserving the future of EU agriculture and the socio-economic structure of rural areas; recognises the efforts through CAP measures to foster generational renewal, particularly in more peripheral rural areas, and stresses the need to reinforce them; points out, however, that the CAP cannot be the only tool to bring young people and women into farming, but must be backed up by national strategies, involving private sources of financing, including banks, collaborative farming arrangements and partnerships, and financial instruments with reduced or no co-financing requirements; insists that the vitally important objective of ensuring generational renewal in EU agriculture has to be accompanied by structural measures, particularly with regard to innovation, digitalisation, digital connectivity and access to land; looks forward, in this regard, to the publication of the Commission’s strategy on generational renewal;

Changed:130.129. Stresses the importance of explicitly confirming the legality of cultivating, harvesting, processing and commercialising the entire hemp plant for authorised industrial purposes across the EU in order to provide legal certainty for farmers, processors, regulators and consumers; notes that hemp cultivation requires relatively few inputs, especially fertilisers, plant protection products and water; emphasises that it also contributes to soil health and biodiversity, offering new economic opportunities, additional income and innovation to rural areas through the provision of raw materials for industrial applications such as textile fibre, and other uses such as for health, food and feed; calls on the Commission to establish a common EU-wide threshold of 0.50,5 % tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for the legal classification of industrial hemp, ensuring harmonisation of national legislation in line with Court of Justice of the European Union rulings and international law;

Changed:70.69. Urges the Commission to encourage farmers’farmers to take responsibility by allowing a degree of tolerance and by ensuring that sanctions are fair and proportionate, especially with regard to conditionality requirements, as well as voluntary eco-schemes and agri-environmental and climate measures; stresses the need for all new legislative requirements under the post-2027 CAP to be accompanied by sufficient transition periods and administrative simplifications to ensure legal and planning certainty for farmers;