10. Young farmers in the Union
A5-0357/2000
European Parliament resolution on the situation and perspectives of young farmers in the Euro-
pean Union (2000/2011(INI))
The European Parliament,
8dash having regard to the study commissioned by the European Parliament which was completed in April
2000,
8dash having regard to Rule 163 ofits Rules ofProcedure,8dash having regard to the report ofthe Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development and the opinion
ofthe Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport (A5-0357/2000),
A. whereas farmers, and especially young farmers, constitute the social group which will provide the
future basis for the common agricultural policy and, if their activities are not promoted, farmingwould eventually be abandoned; whereas they also perform a very important role in the social life ofvillages and rural communities, promoting and maintaining the countryside and contributing to theeconomic, social and environmental needs ofthe community,
B. whereas Articles 32-38 ofthe EC Treaty provide f or the implementation ofa common agricultural
policy (CAP), which remains the foremost and biggest of the Community’s common policies,
C. whereas young farmers are undergoing severe economic difficulties, which are exacerbating problems
ofrural depopulation, desertif ication, decline in rural areas, as well as social and cultural problems;whereas the principle ofsubsidiarity means that only certain aspects ofthese problems come withinthe competence ofthe European Union; whereas complementary action by the EU, Member States andapplicant countries is necessary to confront these problems affecting the long-term future of youngfarmers,
D. whereas the European Union must address the problems ofyoung f armers, ofrural depopulation and
ofregional disparities in terms ofsocial and cultural lif e,
1. Points out that there has been a continuous fall in farm holdings over the last decade, with the
steepest decline (28 %) being experienced by f armers under the age of35, and that the number ofyoungfarmers as a proportion of farmers is declining in nearly every Member State;
2. Regrets that various EU Member States do not make use ofthe measures the European Union has
put in place for young farmers; given the importance of young farmers in terms of innovation and renewalin agriculture, calls on the Council and the Commission to put an end to this situation;
3. Notes that the chief problems faced by young farmers in the EU and applicant countries are high
installation costs, uncertain economic prospects, the lack ofavailability off arms, problems in training andthe general administrative burden, as well as the general problems ofthe economic malaise and the pub-lic’s poor image off arming;
4. Draws attention to specific problems stemming from land sale and rental prices, high cost of machin-
ery and farm improvements, legal and fiscal barriers to new entrants, as well as the more general problemofdecline in many rural areas, leading to degradation ofthe inf rastructure and social lif e as well as ruraldepopulation;
5. Points out that high installation costs lead to high indebtedness amongst young farmers, at a time
when their prospects of a reasonable income from farming are poor;18.9.2001 EN C 262/153 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 17 January 2001
6. Points out that high agricultural land costs are influenced by EU-dominated factors such as the level
ofsubsidies, quotas or other limitations on production and direct payments and also by the negativeeffects inherent in certain EU schemes, which can encourage speculative gains for commercial interestsoutside the farming sector; points out further that high land costs are influenced by nationally imposedfactors and are likely to continue to be a feature of agriculture in the coming years unless steps are takento identify and rectify contributory factors where possible;
7. Points out that there has been no thorough evaluation ofEU measures either by the Member States
or the Commission and believes that this deficiency should be reviewed urgently; calls on the Commissionto undertake a rigorous and detailed evaluation of existing support measures for young farmers and tosubmit the relevant report next year; points out in this respect that the Committee on Agriculture andRural Development ofthe European Parliament proposed increasing the budget line f or the year 2001 inorder to provide funds that could partly be used for an evaluation and inter-country comparison; stressesthe urgency ofthis in view ofthe 2002-2003 spending review;
8. Suggests therefore that a comprehensive database be set up on the economic and social situation of
young farmers in the European Union, into which data on the situation of young farmers in the applicantcountries and the situation ofwomen f armers should also be entered; calls on the Member States to makethe relevant data available;
9. Calls on the Commission to develop a statistical system capable ofrecording the age and number of
farmers taking retirement, the age and number of young farmers setting up and the sectors concerned, in
order to create an instrument for forecasting retirements and business set-ups in the agricultural sector;
10. Takes the view that the EU should consider making it mandatory for the Member States to provide
minimum levels ofinstallation aid to young f armers;
11. Calls for installation aids and supplementary investment grants to be increased and, in view of the
long term nature of farming investments, to be made available for a minimum of eight years after setting
up; such investment aids should be further enhanced where there are tangible environmental benefits or
where the farm is situated in a structurally less-favoured area that may contain deserted villages or hold-ings that have been abandoned owing to a cessation ofactivity, and where young f armers could revive therural economy by developing new agricultural products ofregional interest, repopulating the countryside,and increasing employment;
12. Calls also for Member States to reserve a certain proportion of their production rights and quotas
for young farmers; takes the view that Member States should also ensure that production rights are trans-ferred from non-producers to young farmers; Member States and the EU should also target the necessarymeasures and aid in particular at young farmers in countries and rural areas that are structurally disadvan-taged owing to the ageing oftheir population;
13. Calls on the European Union, together with the Member States and farming organisations, to boost
their efforts to assist young farmers wishing to set up in business and to offer comprehensive advice onthe choice ofsector, investment, schemes, taxation, laws ofsuccession, etc.; also calls on f arming organisa-tions to actively promote farming as an occupation in the context of careers advice at schools and highereducational establishments;
14. Considers that, since eligibility for aid has been extended to include young part-time farmers, the
Commission should reallocate sufficient resources to Article B1-401 of the Union budget (setting-up ofyoung farmers);C 262/154 EN 18.9.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 17 January 2001
15. Believes that the early retirement provisions ofthe EU should be improved, particularly in the case
of farmers who pass on their farm to younger farmers, enabling them to create economically and sociallyviable units, and that further schemes should be considered to improve the incentive to retire; in additionthe early retirement provisions should be regularly reviewed in the light ofthe various rates ofinf lation indifferent Member States; believes further that older, retired farmers should be permitted a degree of invol-vement which utilises their experience and protects their self-respect, without jeopardising their entitle-ment to the provisions ofthe scheme;
16. Considers that, in respect of any form of aid provided, where investments are made by young farm-
ers, incentives must be provided in the form of lower interest rates;
17. Stresses that it is important that the benefit of the interest rate subsidy should go to the young
farmers involved rather than the bank through which it is paid; calls for clear guidelines on interest ratesubsidies to be established in this respect, which require the banks to demonstrate transparently that theinterest rate subsidy is not contributing to their calculation ofthe interest rate applied;
18. Asks the Commission to examine the f easibility ofall alternative methods ofassisting f armers,
including the use of rural credit guarantees, especially for young farmers, and to encourage alternativeschemes, such as the development oforganic production, agri-tourism and rural tourism, a source ofwealth in many rural areas ofthe Union where tourism is a mainstay ofthe economy and contributes tosustainable and lasting development;
19. Calls on the European Union, in the context ofequal opportunities, to encourage Member States to
adopt fiscal measures aimed at developing the role of young women farmers, and in particular at support-ing them during maternity leave and in bringing up farming families;
20. Urges the Commission to continue to promote sustainable, high-quality agricultural production, not
only by enhancing existing mechanisms, such as designations of origin and support for organic farmingand indigenous breeds of livestock, but also by creating specific support mechanisms for regional productsofspecial quality as a way ofcreating agricultural markets with high value-added and ensuring new invest-ment prospects for young farmers;
21. Urges the Commission to use every possibility afforded by the rural development pillar and by the
Structural Funds to supplement Member States’ efforts to support the creation and maintenance of basicinfrastructure and a network of good-quality public services and to boost local and regional markets as away ofcombating the depopulation ofrural areas, ensuring adequate conditions f or investment in theleast-favoured rural areas and making it more attractive for young farmers to set up; points out that cul-tural initiatives to facilitate social life and promote education create an environment which is more con-ducive to young people remaining in rural areas and becoming involved in farming;
22. Believes that there is scope for developing schemes whereby both the established and the young
farmer work together to develop the farm, each providing a combination of experience and innovation;
points out that schemes such as share farming, (where the established farmer provides land and capital
while the young farmer provides skills and labour) can be successful; points out, however, that suchschemes can only be developed where there is a regulatory framework which ensures that neither partywill be exploited by the other;
23. Notes that it is important for Member States to take steps to ensure that institutional landowners
give preference to concluding leases 8dash albeit on equal terms 8dash with young farmers;18.9.2001 EN C 262/155 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 17 January 2001
24. Stresses the importance off urther education and training, in order to raise the level ofqualif ications
and skills applied to farming and considers that such skills must be geared in particular to the vocationaltraining of women whose livelihoods are in rural areas; believes that the EU should fund programmes forfarmers relating to the latest developments in the market, as well as new and alternative techniques; stres-ses also that all forms of education, including computer courses, which meet standards recognised in theMember States, and are provided by colleges, as well as courses run by private or state bodies, should beeligible for this funding;
25. Stresses the importance ofthe development ofthe use ofcomputer technology and the internet,
particularly in the context ofthe e-Europe initiative;
26. Considers that the Commission’s Directorates-General for Agriculture and for the Information
Society must undertake to study and submit to the European Investment Bank (EIB) a special investmentprogramme for the acquisition and use of new information technologies and to make available appropriatefunding in the context of the European Social Fund, for continuing education programmes; considers thatthe EIB, for its part, must undertake to set up a special ‘young farmers’ information desk’ as part of the
Innovation 2000 initiative or to strengthen any such facilities that exist and are geared to new techno-
logies;
27. Calls on the Commission to bring together in a single document all existing and future measures
designed to help young farmers;
28. Emphasises the importance ofcontinued rural development schemes which have considerable ben-
efits for the rural community as a whole, and benefit the agricultural sector in particular, and urges the EUto include rural development in the sectors to be reviewed in 2000-2003 so that assistance to youngfarmers will be the key element of rural development; calls on the Commission to study the feasibility ofestablishing new Community initiatives targeted specifically at young farmers;
29. Proposes that, in order to counter farming’s general loss of image and raise awareness amongst the
general public of the problems associated with agricultural policy, public information campaigns on farm-
ing be included amongst CAP information measures, as well as an initiative for informing school pupilsabout studying agricultural sciences;
30. Points out that EU enlargement will necessitate changes in the farm structure of the applicant coun-
tries and in the way the CAP will operate; demands that the requirements ofyoung f armers be givenpriority by all concerned in the context ofthe overall limit ofSapard, which was f ixed at the BerlinEuropean Council;
31. Believes that the EU should encourage applicant countries to target investment aid to young farm-
ers, and introduce early retirement measures; believes that the EU should allow these countries to payhigher levels ofinstallation aid during the immediate post-accession period;
32. Considers that the Union should encourage, through its Socrates and Leonardo programmes, mea-
sures to strengthen education and training facilities for young farmers and allied trades and professions, in
order to raise their skills to the required level, so long as adequate additional funding can be made avail-able;
33. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.C 262/156 EN 18.9.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 17 January 2001