On Tuesday 19 May, the European Commission adopted a European Fertiliser Action Plan (see EUROPE 13862/7), in response to the difficulties encountered by farmers, particularly in view of the “difficult decisions” expected in the coming months concerning the next sowing season for the 2027 harvest.
“Nitrogen fertiliser prices are around 70% higher than the 2024 average and well above pre-pandemic levels. The affordability of fertilisers is now at its lowest level since 2022”, acknowledged Christophe Hansen, European Commissioner for Agriculture, in front of the MEPs (see EUROPE 13870/12).
The Commission is proposing immediate measures to “reduce the pressure on fertiliser production costs and prices and secure supply for farmers and the domestic fertiliser industry”, according to the Action Plan.
To guarantee immediate liquidity and support agricultural production, it is necessary, according to the text, to provide “targeted exceptional support for the most-affected European farmers through existing crisis instruments under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)”.
The Commission will quickly propose to mobilise the EU budget to increase the agricultural reserve for a “substantial” amount (which amounts to €450 million per year) to provide fast relief for the farmers.
In addition, the Commission will launch “an EU fertilisers value chain Partnership between fertiliser producers, farmers, other stakeholders concerned and the Member States”. The partnership will aim to ensure the availability and affordability of EU-produced fertilisers for European farmers, improve predictability for both producers and users, and support “the decarbonisation of the EU fertiliser industry, taking into account the EU energy and climate objectives”, according to the Action Plan. Once launched, this partnership will take the form of political dialogue sessions.
The Commission will also present a targeted CAP package, enabling Member States to make the most of the aid available under current strategic plans. It will propose a measure, within the existing CAP envelope, to create liquidity support for farmers where necessary, and to make advance payments to beneficiaries more flexible.
It will also recommend that Member States finance, as part of their CAP strategic plans, a new eco-regime aimed at improving fertilisation efficiency.
These proposals would enable Member States to provide rapid exceptional aid between now and the end of the current period (2027).
“We will propose a targeted CAP package, including a new liquidity facility, more flexibility for advance payments and support for fertilisation efficiency so that Member States can use all the funds available in their CAP strategic plans. This will be complemented by increased advice to farmers on nutrient management”, summarised Mr Hansen.
With regard to digestate, the Commission will explore short-term measures to facilitate its use, in particular by proposing and implementing a ‘regulatory sandbox’.
RENURE (nitrogen recovered from manure) materials enable farmers in nitrate-vulnerable zones to replace more mineral fertilisers without compromising water protection, thanks to the recent amendment of the European Nitrates Directive. Member States can already incorporate this new option into their action programmes under the Nitrates Directive.
“The Commission is working on extending this possibility to digestates, given their higher efficiency than raw manure, such as certain types of liquid digestates, where the potential to meet the quality criteria is promising, by extending the RENURE Act, with appropriate environmental safeguards. Preparatory work in that direction is already underway, with the aim of providing solutions on the ground by the next growing season”, according to the action plan.
Trade. The Commission will monitor developments on European and global fertiliser markets and “is prepared to consider additional trade measures, where legally and economically justified and warranted by market conditions, to improve access to fertilisers from a broader range of suppliers, while also considering the situation of domestic producers, as well as of fertiliser import-dependent fragile countries”, says the Action Plan. This could include broadening the scope of fertiliser products benefiting from temporary suspension of most-favoured-nation duties, as already proposed by the Commission.
As the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is gradually implemented, the Commission introduced an exception to the standard rules for calculating default values: a flat-rate mark-up of 1% applied to the CBAM default values for fertilisers, which is much lower than the mark-ups applied to other goods covered by the CBAM (10, 20 and 30% in 2026, 2027 and 2028 respectively). “The Commission will review the default values by December 2027 at the latest”, states the Action Plan.
The ETS and CBAM are “central pillars of the European Union’s climate framework and play a complementary and essential role for energy-intensive industries, such as the fertiliser sector”, European sources said on Monday 18 May.
“The Commission has also proposed the possibility of suspending CBAM. This provision is currently being examined by the co-legislators. However, at this stage, the action plan does not provide for any exemption for fertilisers from the scope of the CBAM”, according to these sources.
By July 2026, the Commission will adopt a legislative proposal to revise the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). In this context, it will examine how best to support the economic profitability of industrial decarbonisation in all sectors covered by the ETS, taking into account the specific situation of the fertiliser value chain.
Without prejudging this review, options will be assessed to ensure that any additional flexibility granted to the industry is conditional on an increase in domestic decarbonised production, as well as support for the production of bio-based and circular fertilisers, and a guarantee of the availability and affordability of fertilisers produced in the European Union.
In addition, as announced in AccelerateEU, the Commission will support Member States wanting to explore the use of ETS revenues for targeted measures to mobilise and accelerate investment, particularly in industrial decarbonisation and downstream circular applications. This could include investments to decarbonise fertiliser production as well as circular solutions, such as greater use of recycled nutrients.
Mr Hansen also mentioned the idea of “building up stocks and other instruments to strengthen resilience”.
Link to the Fertiliser Action Plan: https://aeur.eu/f/lyr (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)