Source: European Parliament
The Commission outlined several directions of action in its 2022 Communication on ‘Ensuring availability and affordability of fertilisers’[1] and is actively pursuing them. A Fertilisers Market Observatory[2] was established for improving market transparency.
The Commission has also adopted on 28 January 2025 a proposal to impose additional tariffs on nitrogen-based fertilisers from Russia and Belarus[3], aiming at reducing and eventually putting an end to the EU’s dependence on both sources of supply.
The Commission’s approach has been shaped by the need to balance efforts to limit revenue flows that fund the ongoing Russian aggression with considerations related to food security.
As regards the strategy called for, the Commission considers that such strategic approach is reflected in the 2022 Communication referred to above. The current production of the major category of nitrogen fertilisers requires vast quantities of natural gas.
Against the background of the structurally higher EU prices of natural gas, compared to other regions, the best prospect for reviving the EU nitrogen fertiliser industry is its conversion to the use of ammonia derived from renewable hydrogen instead of natural gas.
This will also help fulfilling the industry’s decarbonisation goals. Finally, in view of facilitating the replacement of fossil-based materials in nitrogen fertilisers, the Commission is assessing the potential of different waste streams in providing recovered nitrogen.
A technical study[4] assesses agronomic efficiency and safety of several recovered materials rich in nitrogen, for their possible inclusion in EU fertilising products.
- [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52022DC0590(01)
- [2] https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/data-and-analysis/markets/overviews/market-observatories/fertilisers_en
- [3] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52025PC0034
- [4] Technical study for the inclusion of new materials and processes under Regulation (EU) 2019/1009: https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/36ec94c7-575b-44dc-a6e9-4ace02907f2f/library/78f825aa-5272-44f0-9126-f1b25985f650?p=1&n=10&sort=name_ASC