16. Calls for a strong, sustainable, competitive and fair agricultural policy, which serves European farmers and consumers, promotes rural development and protects the environment; stresses that the future Common Agricultural Policy will continue to ensure after 2013 the supply of a high-quality and at the same time affordable food for the European population; calls for an efficient and non-bureaucratic implementation of the so-called ‘greening’ of the CAP; rejects thereby the introduction of an additional payment, control and sanc ...[+++]tion system; in this context, supports a simplification of the CAP and the existing cross-compliance rules and calls for maintaining a sufficient EU agricultural budget for the next financial period at least at the same level as the agricultural budget of 2013;

5. Recognizes the role of the agricultural sector in delivering environmental public goods; furthermore, believes there is a significant and unexploited potential of agriculture in the sectors of energy savings and energy efficiency as well as a renewable energy provider; therefore notes that the reform of the CAP should also be geared to unlocking the full potential of agriculture as a provider of environmental public goods and renewable energy; stresses the agricultural sector's role in reducing CO2 emissions by producing next-generation biofuels that do not compete with food production and by absorption of CO2 by cultivated crops/p ...[+++]lants or directly by the soil;

34. Points out that the cross-compliance system makes the granting of direct aid subject to compliance with statutory requirements and the maintenance of farmland in good agricultural and environmental condition, and remains one of the appropriate means of optimising the provision of eco-system services by farmers and meeting new environmental challenges by securing the provision of basic public goods; notes, however, that the introduction of cross-compliance has raised a whole range of problems relating to administrative issues and acceptance by farmers, who had the impression that they were losing a degree of freedom in their work; c ...[+++]alls therefore for the administrative burden on farmers to be reduced through a simplified implementation system for cross-compliance requirements;

What harm has ever been done by those agricultural merchants?

We have an efficient, workable, effective system of agricultural merchants.

Support provided for in Article 20(b)(v), may cover notably operations related to access to farm and forest land, land consolidation and improvement, energy supply and water management.