Proposed EU Commission Response to Fertiliser Crisis Inept & Completely Out of Touch
IFA President Francie Gorman said the EU Commission is completely out of touch with how serious the fertiliser issue is in Ireland and across the EU. This follows leaked reports of the Commission’s draft Fertiliser Action Plan, which is due to be published on May 19th.
“Based on these reports, the Commission’s Fertiliser Action Plan will do absolutely nothing to address either the availability or price of fertiliser. To consider publishing a Fertiliser Action Plan and not address CBAM is quite incredible. One would have to question if the Commission has any interest at all in addressing the price or availability of fertiliser across the EU.”
At the start of 2026, the EU Commission imposed a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) tariff on imported nitrogen fertiliser across the EU. This has coincided with a massive increase in world fertiliser prices and has served to further exacerbate a situation that was already extremely serious.
“We estimate that CBAM will cost EU farmers almost €900m in 2026. At the stroke of a pen, the Commission imposed this tax on farmers and has refused to reverse course despite the price of fertiliser more or less doubling in price. One would be forgiven for thinking that there are some in the Commission who welcome the massive increase in fertiliser prices. It’s hard to think any different given their inaction on CBAM.”
“Fertiliser is a critical raw material in the production of crops. Without it we would face massive food shortages across Europe and beyond. It’s about time the Commission woke up, realised this, and immediately suspended CBAM on fertiliser.”
