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EC presents plan to secure Europe's fertiliser supply and food security

22.05.2026 10:15 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) — The European Commission adopted the Fertiliser Action Plan: an initiative to support farmers facing rising fertiliser costs and scarcity, reinforce domestic production and reduce Europe’s dependency on imports. The Plan will directly help to ensure food security and reinforce Europe’s strategic autonomy, while pursuing high climate and environmental goals.

Recent supply disruptions and price volatility have put farmers across Europe under increasing pressure, exposing Europe’s vulnerability to external shocks in fertiliser supply. Building on the Fertilisers Communication adopted in 2022, today’s Fertiliser Action Plan combines immediate support measures aimed at supporting affordability and security of supply, with longer-term action to strengthen domestic fertiliser production, improve supply resilience and accelerate the transition to bio-based, low-carbon and circular fertilisers.

President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: «With this Action Plan, we are investing in a stronger European fertiliser industry, supporting European farmers and accelerating innovation in sustainable, home-grown solutions. The ongoing fossil fuel crisis shows that climate leadership and economic resilience are interlinked. This is why Europe is building a future based on sustainability, affordability and industrial strength.»

Support farmers and improve their access to fertilisers

The Commission will deliver targeted exceptional support to the European farmers facing high fertiliser costs through existing instruments under the EU’s agricultural policy. The Commission will propose mobilising the EU budget to reinforce the agricultural reserve by a substantial amount. This financial package will be presented before the summer to provide immediate liquidity relief for farmers ahead of the next production cycle and will help sustain agricultural production.

As additional short-term relief, the Commission will present a targeted legislative package enabling Member States to make full use of the support available under their current Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) Strategic Plans. This will include a new liquidity scheme to help with cash flow, greater flexibility for advanced payments, and stronger incentives for more efficient farming practices that reduce and optimise fertiliser use, shift to bio-based fertilisers and invest in farm resilience where needed.

Further actions to support farmers will focus on better nutrient management, support for the development and uptake of nutrient-efficient farming practices and a stronger emphasis on Farm Advisory Services within the CAP.

The Commission will also present measures to facilitate the use of digestates, with appropriate environmental safeguards. In addition, following the upcoming evaluation of the Nitrates Directive, the Commission will clarify certain implementation rules, to better align them with the reality of the calendar farming experienced on the ground.

Reinforce domestic production, promote the circular economy and decarbonisation

The Commission will take steps to support its domestic fertiliser industry, to prevent deindustrialisation, guarantee stable supplies, and reduce our dependency on imports. To boost circularity and cut emissions, the Commission will encourage use of European alternatives. This includes a wider use of organic, bio-based fertilisers and alternatives to traditional mineral products. Other pathways include algae biomass, other soil enhancers, microbial solutions, biostimulants, and recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus from the sewage sludge.

In the context of the upcoming Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) review, and without prejudging it, we will examine options to ensure that any additional flexibility for fertiliser industry comes with the responsibility to decarbonise the production, with the responsibility to ensure increased production of bio-based and circular fertilisers, and to secure the availability and affordability of home-grown fertilizers in Europe. This will ensure the availability and affordability of fertilisers for the farmers, the uptake of European fertilizing products, and thus ultimately benefit homegrown industry.

The Commission will also consider how to provide the right incentives for carbon farming and carbon removals, by combining forces between private and public revenues (Member States, Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), European Competitiveness Fund and ETS revenue).

At the same time, the Commission will cut unnecessary red tape and market barriers and propose new measures to grow demand for sustainable home-grown fertilisers. This will make the Single Market work better, including for mineral products.

To further streamline circular economy practices, the Commission will assess measures in the context of the evaluation of the Waste Framework Directive to simplify the management of animal and other by-products.

The Commission will also ensure that the fertiliser sector does not lag behind other sectors in access to funding for green innovation and modernisation. Existing funds, notably cohesion funds, will be mobilised to support biogas and biomethane production and wastewater infrastructure investments which can scale up sludge valorisation and nutrient recovery.

Strengthening market transparency, preparedness, and enhancing dialogue between stakeholders

A well-functioning fertiliser market requires greater transparency and structured dialogue between policymakers and actors across the value chain. The Commission will therefore launch an EU fertilisers value chain Partnership, bringing together fertiliser producers, farmers and Member States to determine a shared pathway to overcome these challenges and safeguard continuous food security at affordable prices across the EU. Under this Partnership, a first policy dialogue will be organised in the coming months with all actors in the chain to develop solutions for challenges in the supply, production, marketing and use of fertilisers. The outcomes would serve as a basis to work towards viable solutions for both farmers and the industry.

Moreover, the Commission will strengthen market monitoring, early-warning capabilities and propose a proportionate framework to ensure the availability of regular up-to-date data on fertilisers in the EU. In that context, the Commission will work on a report assessing how costs related to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and Emission Trading System (ETS) are passed on to fertiliser prices paid by farmers and ultimately to food prices. The Fertilisers Market Observatory will continue to serve as the central platform for market intelligence. It will be also strengthened by improving the collection of data on market functioning, prices and stocks.

To strengthen preparedness, the Commission will assess stockpiling and other options for securing key fertilisers and inputs. This could include seasonal or minimum stocks and, where appropriate, joint procurement or other instruments to increase resilience to external shocks and mitigate price volatility.

The EU will continue to engage in international cooperation frameworks and with candidate, neighbouring and partner countries globally to ensure transparency, promote the diversification of the supply of fertilisers and inputs, and explore investment options in such countries through mutually beneficial partnerships.

Fertilisers are essential for agricultural productivity, farm viability and food security, and they represent a significant share of production costs for farmers. Geopolitical shocks and supply disruptions have driven fertiliser prices sharply higher, placing increasing pressure on farmers across Europe.

Rising fertiliser costs risk forcing farmers to reduce application rates or scale back cultivated areas, threatening crop yields, food production and the resilience of the EU agri-food sector.

With the next sowing season approaching, farmers need reliable access to sufficient quantities of affordable fertilisers. At the same time, Europe must strengthen a more resilient, competitive and circular domestic fertiliser industry to reduce strategic dependencies and better withstand future shocks.

As part of its ongoing response to the situation, the Commission has already taken several steps. An exception to the standard calculation rules was introduced, to reduce the impact of the CBAM on fertilisers, making them the only commodity to benefit from such an exception (use of a 1 % markup instead of 10 % with a progressive increase to 30 % for all other sectors).

In February 2026, the Commission also proposed temporary duty-free tariff rate quotas for several key nitrogen fertilisers and inputs for their production (ammonia, urea). In April 2026, the Commission adopted a temporary State aid framework to support sectors affected by the Middle East crisis, including agriculture. In April, the Commission also convened a High-level Dialogue with stakeholders to help shape the Fertiliser Action Plan and identify measures to strengthen the sustainability, competitiveness and resilience of the EU fertiliser system.

Source: European Commission

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