The committee adopted the report by Karl-Erik OLSSON (ELDR, S) tabling a large number of amendments to the proposal under the consultation procedure. In particular, it wanted to see more funding allocated to social spending:
- support for the setting-up of farms by young farmers should be funded by the EAGGF Guarantee Section from 2007 onwards;
- the Commission should submit a proposal by 2006 for the creation of a new rural development chapter in support of women in rural areas;
- special financial aid should be provided for agricultural cooperatives;
- maximum and minimum amounts for compensatory allowances for less-favoured areas should be increased by EUR 100;
- a compensatory payment - of EUR 1000 per farmer per year - should be created to support small farms and family farming as a complement to the current compensatory allowances for less-favoured areas. The committee argued that this expenditure would be offset by the savings generated by modulation and the ceiling.
Other amendments sought to:
- ensure that the Community provided a greater proportion of financing for environmentally-friendly agriculture;
- encourage the production, using environment-friendly farming methods, of raw materials intended for non-food uses;
- introduce a clause providing for Parliament to be consulted again, in connection with the future financial perspective (for the period after 2006), so as to enable it to reconsider the provisions and assess the budgetary implications of the Regulation. �