Source: European Parliament
Fertilisers are highly tradeable internationally and the EU is dependent on imports for most of the inputs they require. Exogeneous developments, such as spikes of natural gas prices or tightening of global supply for phosphatic fertilisers, have a strong impact on production costs.
The Commission is currently undertaking several initiatives to support the European industry, among which the action plan for Affordable Energy[1] that will benefit energy-intensive industries. In addition, the President of the Commission announced a dedicated action plan for the EU chemical industry[2].
The Common Agricultural Policy[3] supports the improvement of nutrient management, that includes the substitution of mineral with bio-based fertilisers, closing nutrient loops and therefore reducing dependencies. Such actions are planned for 15.5% of EU farming area by 2027[4].
A Fertiliser Market Observatory[5] was also established to improve market transparency and monitoring. Fertilisers availability and affordability in the EU improved in 2024, driven by increased nitrogen fertilisers production and lower prices.
The Commission is currently exploring the simplification potential for rules on EU fertilising products[6], including possible disproportionate burden on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Furthermore, SMEs can seek financial support from different EU programmes, like the EU Innovation Fund[7] and the European Hydrogen Bank[8].
- [1] eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52025DC0079.
- [2] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/el/read_25_1198.
- [3] Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 2 December 2021 establishing rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the common agricultural policy (CAP Strategic Plans) and financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1305/2013 and (EU) No 1307/2013, OJ L435, 6.12.2021.
- [4] https://agridata.ec.europa.eu/extensions/DashboardCapPlan/result_indicators.html#.
- [5] https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/data-and-analysis/markets/overviews/market-observatories/fertilisers_en.
- [6] Regulation (EU) 2019/ of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 laying down rules on the making available on the market of EU fertilising products and amending Regulations (EC) No 1069/2009 and (EC) No 1107/2009 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2003/2003, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32019R1009.
- [7] https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/eu-funding-climate-action/innovation-fund/what-innovation-fund_en.
- [8] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52023DC0156.