During the debate in Brussels on Monday 30 March on the implementation of the ‘Vision for Agriculture and Food’, many agriculture ministers discussed the fertiliser situation in relation to the situation in the Middle East, and expressed their divergent views on the measures to be taken.
“The price volatility of fertilisers that are a strategic input for the EU agriculture continues to pose such a risk for production and competitiveness, as many of you have mentioned”, said the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen, addressing the ‘Agriculture’ Council.
The Commissioner reiterated the measures already implemented, such as the suspension of customs duties on fertilisers, and warned that the suspension of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) for fertilisers could “reinforce our dependence on imports” from third countries (see EUROPE 13832/10).
The European Commission is therefore actively working on these issues, notably through an action plan on fertilisers, due to be adopted shortly.
As the situation has evolved in the meantime, the Commission will also convene an urgent high-level meeting with stakeholders on 13 April to discuss this future action plan, explained Mr Hansen.
The focus will be on both short-term measures and long-term structural measures to support European fertiliser production and reduce dependency, while helping farmers to use fertilisers more efficiently and replace mineral fertilisers with bio-based or low-carbon footprint fertilisers, explained Christophe Hansen.
“Our common goal is clear: to ensure Europe’s agriculture and food sector remains resilient competitive and sustainable and able to thrive regardless of the many external constraints that we are facing”, concluded Mr Hansen.
During the debate, several countries, including France, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and Greece, called for the suspension of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) applied to fertilisers.
“The increase in customs duties on Russian and Belarussian fertilisers and the introduction of the CBAM on fertilisers have added to the cash flow difficulties faced by farms”, emphasised the French Minister for Agriculture, Annie Genevard. She reiterated her request for an immediate and retroactive suspension of CBAM from 1 January 2026 for ammonia-based fertilisers in order to provide an immediate and concrete response to the current situation.
To this end, France has proposed several options, ranging from a formal legal suspension (requiring an amendment to the CBAM Regulation) to a technical reset of the default values applicable to fertilisers, which would only require an amendment to the implementing act.
The Irish minister, Martin Heydon, called for greater flexibility in the application of the CBAM.
Luis Planas, the Spanish minister, stressed the need to monitor developments on the fertiliser market very closely and to consider all possible measures to guarantee availability and limit the impact of rising prices. In this context, he welcomed the forthcoming action plan on fertilisers, which he sees as an essential tool for an overall vision of the European response.
Denmark decided against suspending the CBAM for fertilisers.
Finally, most ministers said that the Commission’s proposals for the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) did not meet the expectations set out in the ‘Vision for Agriculture’. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)