Bring down fertiliser prices, bring down food bill

The EPP Group wants to ensure food security and affordability. “The availability of all types of fertilisers and fertiliser production is essential for the supply of food to EU citizens and for global food security”, recalled EPP Group Members Norbert Lins MEP and Colm Markey MEP.

The European Parliament will today discuss the availability of fertilisers in the EU and will vote for a list of proposed measures.

"The EPP alarm woke the Commission up, but we need more action to bring down fertiliser prices”, said Lins, Chair of the European Parliament’s Agriculture and Rural Development Committee. “Measures set out by the Commission in November are still far from sufficient.”

"We urgently need to secure an adequate supply of fertiliser for our farmers", underlined Lins, calling on the Commission to address the distortions in fertiliser markets and to develop a long-term EU fertiliser strategy.

“We need multiple solutions for the short and long-term”, stressed Markey. “Replacement and complementation of mineral fertiliser by nutrients from organic source and temporary lifting of anti-dumping measures for foreign imports should be in the toolbox. We also need better functioning, transparent fertiliser markets. There is also a growing need to increase financial support under the Common Agricultural Policy for farmers suffering from increased costs.”

“Securing the supply of fertilisers means driving down food prices", Markey concluded.