The European Commission is set to present a plan this month to deal with the high cost of fertiliser.
Speaking via his Twitter account today (Thursday, October 6), Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski said the commission will present a communication on fertilisers, which would cover both internal and external aspects that effect fertiliser prices, as well as food security and greening.
It is understood that this communication will be brought forward in the middle of October.
The commissioner announced his intention to bring forward a plan during a debate in the European Parliament today.
Reacting to this development, Irish MEP Colm Markey said: “I pushed for this debate to take place today because I believe we need an emergency response now, not when it becomes a problem next spring.”
He added: “I welcome the commissioner’s response, which confirmed that a communication on fertilisers – covering both internal and external dimensions – will be presented in the next few weeks.
“I look forward to feeding into this plan and exploring various options to ensure that farmers have enough fertilisers, that they won’t be out of pocket, and that they are supported during the transition to natural methods.”
In advance of the debate in the parliament today, Markey had said that food prices could increase even further in 2023 if the commission didn’t take action on fertiliser shortages.
He had called for a strategy to address this, adding: “60% of Europe’s fertilisers would have come from either Russia or Ukraine in the past. The reality is, with the war and the hike in energy prices, that has had a major impact on the supply of fertilisers.”
Fertiliser giant Yara also called on the EU to take “urgent and decisive action” to reduce its dependency on Russia for fertiliser and food”.
In a statement issued today (Thursday, October 6), the Norwegian-based company backed calls from the European Parliament and other stakeholders for an EU fertiliser strategy.