The European Parliament has urged the European Commission to guarantee the supply of fertilisers, to ensure that prices are lowered and to increase the strategic autonomy of the European Union on this matter. In a show of hands resolution, MEPs call for a long-term EU strategy on both fertilizers and soil nutrients by June 2023.

MEPs point out that Russian gas, used in the production of fertilizers, helps to finance the war in Ukraine, therefore they ask "that sufficient resources be allocated as soon as possible to put an end to dependence on this gas", reports a note. They also acknowledge that being self-sufficient on mineral fertilizers is "unrealistic" in the medium term and that the raw materials used to make fertilizers often come from autocratic regimes.

The European Union "must not replace one dependency with another", so it should increase its strategic autonomy in fertilizers. As a short-term measure to increase the availability of fertilizers for farmers and stabilize prices, MEPs propose using part of the 2023 agriculture budget to provide immediate assistance to farmers and to extend the temporary suspension of import duties to all fertilizers minerals, except those from Russia and Belarus. MEPs also call on the Commission to look into an EU-wide joint purchasing mechanism for fertilizers and to consider how to reduce bottlenecks in the fertilizer market. In the longer term, MEPs recommend accelerating the decarbonisation process and using fossil-free and recycled nutrients to produce fertilisers.

"We urgently need to ensure an adequate supply of fertilizers for our farmers and we need further action to reduce their prices - said German MEP Norbert Lins (PPE), rapporteur and chair of the Agriculture Committee and the rural development -. Fertilizers are essential for food security. Replacing and supplementing mineral fertilizers with nutrients from organic sources would significantly expand the toolbox for farmers and make European agriculture less dependent on imports of fertilizers from third countries".