Q. whereas the per capita real income of farmers has fallen dramatically in the past two years and whereas, as a result of constant decline, it has now fallen below the level it had attained nearly 15 years ago, whereas agricultural incomes are notably lower (by an estimated 40% per working unit) than in the rest of the economy, and income per inhabitant in rural areas is considerably lower (by about 50%) than in urban areas and whereas Eurostat data shows that employment in the agricultural sector fell by 25% between 2000 and 2009,

Q. whereas the per capita real income of farmers has fallen dramatically in the past two years and whereas, as a result of constant decline, it has now fallen below the level it had attained nearly 15 years ago, whereas agricultural incomes are notably lower (by an estimated 40% per working unit) than in the rest of the economy, and income per inhabitant in rural areas is considerably lower (by about 50%) than in urban areas and whereas Eurostat data shows that employment in the agricultural sector fell by 25% between 2000 and 2009,

R. whereas the per capita real income of farmers has fallen dramatically in the past two years and whereas, as a result of constant decline, it has now fallen below the level it had attained nearly 15 years ago, whereas agricultural incomes are notably lower (by an estimated 40% per working unit) than in the rest of the economy, and income per inhabitant in rural areas is considerably lower (by about 50%) than in urban areas and whereas Eurostat data shows that employment in the agricultural sector fell by 25% between 2000 and 2009,

16. Criticises the rapid growth of undeclared employment and the hidden economy; calls for the problem to be tackled by means of more intensive communication and better mutual administrative assistance, to be provided by the appropriate national authorities on a Europe-wide scale; calls on the Member States to make work more attractive for employees and employers alike by providing incentives to promote declared employment so that the burden of social insurance contributions on employment is substantially reduced, the creation of new jobs becomes cheaper and net income increases; emphasises as a consequence of the Lisbon strategy the ...[+++]importance of creating high-quality jobs;

The committee therefore considers that, as was suggested by the Court of Auditors in its 1994 report, the approach adopted should be the possibility of making compensatory payments to growers leaving tobacco farming, in the form of direct income support to growers equivalent to their mean net income; this would help to cut tobacco production, while at the same time safeguarding jobs. In addition, steps should be taken gradually to reduce premiums, with the aim of reducing output.

One component of that benefit is the working income supplement which provides a non-taxable benefit to supplement the employment earnings of families with net incomes below $25,900.