Just days before the European Commission presents its long-awaited Fertiliser Action Plan, Copa and Cogeca —the united voice of EU farmers and agri‑cooperatives— have issued a clear and urgent message: the EU must act now to tackle the fertiliser crisis and safeguard both farm viability and Europe’s food security.
In a newly published position paper, the organisations outline a set of immediate, medium‑ and long‑term measures they consider essential to stabilise the market and reduce the sector’s vulnerability in an increasingly turbulent geopolitical context. The document follows the mobilisation of thousands of farmers in Brussels last December, who demanded swift action in response to soaring fertiliser prices.
According to Copa and Cogeca, fertilisers are “indispensable for food and feed production in Europe” and “a cornerstone of the EU’s food security”. When costs rise beyond sustainable levels, they warn, “farm viability is severely undermined”, putting the Union’s food sovereignty at risk.
Urgent measures: suspension of CBAM, tariffs and antidumping duties
The position paper identifies several actions that the European Commission should integrate without delay into the Fertiliser Action Plan. These include:
- Suspending the application of the CBAM for fertilisers and mitigating its cost impact.
- Suspending MFN tariffs and antidumping measures on fertiliser imports.
According to the sector, these steps would provide immediate relief to farmers and improve product availability on the EU market.
Revising the Nitrates Directive and boosting organic and recycled nutrients
To reduce dependency on synthetic fertilisers, Copa and Cogeca call for an urgent revision of the Nitrates Directive, allowing:
- Greater flexibility in the use of manure where agronomically justified.
- The use of digestate above current thresholds.
They also advocate for harmonised rules to scale up organic and recycled nutrients, which can replace part of synthetic nitrogen without compromising yields. In this context, they urge the Commission to align RENURE criteria with the recommendations of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) to ensure full technological neutrality.
More transparency and stronger market monitoring
The organisations also call for reinforcing the Fertiliser Market Observatory, strictly enforcing competition rules and improving market monitoring to provide farmers with reliable information on availability and fair pricing.
“The minimum required” to address a long‑standing structural crisis
Copa and Cogeca stress that the upcoming Action Plan must “reflect agronomic and economic realities on the ground”, deliver immediate relief and set out a credible pathway towards sustainable nutrient management. The measures proposed, they argue, represent “the minimum required” to address a crisis that farmers have been warning about for years and which could have far‑reaching consequences for the entire European Union.
