Parliamentary (Seimas) Resolution “On the future of the common agricultural policy of the European Union after 2013”

SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA RESOLUTION ON THE FUTURE OF THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AFTER 2013 9 June 2011 Vilnius The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, having regard to: Communication of 18 November 2010 from the European Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions ‘The Common Agricultural Policy towards 2020: meeting the food, natural resources and territorial challenges of the future’, Communication from the European Commission of 3 March 2010 ‘Europe 2020. A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’; noting that agriculture and rural development is an integral part of well-being of Lithuanian people, sustainable agriculture plays a substantial role in addressing such important issues as food security, supply of energy and industrial raw materials, environmental protection, health and demographic changes, uneven support distorts the situation in the single market of the European Union, does not guarantee non-discriminatory competition among the Member States of the European Union and prevents smart and inclusive growth; considering that the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union should adapt to new challenges and changing market needs, states that the creation of a fair and honest system of distribution of direct support has to be one of the priority objectives for the future Common Agricultural Policy; supports the idea that direct payments in all the Member States of the European Union should be paid following the same model, with their level established based on objective criteria, ensuring competitiveness and equal farming conditions in the single market of the European Union; states that rural development must remain a constituent part of the Common Agricultural Policy, maintaining the set priorities, and must not be identified with the cohesion policy of the European Union, while market regulation measures must be improved and ensure stability in the face of crisis. SPEAKER OF THE SEIMAS IRENA DEGUTIENĖ