{"id":454879,"date":"2026-05-26T19:37:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T17:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/05\/26\/lollobrigida-bene-lo-stop-ai-dazi-sui-fertilizzanti-ma-non-basta-serve-una-strategia-industriale\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T19:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T17:58:08","slug":"lollobrigida-the-suspension-of-tariffs-on-fertilisers-is-a-good-move-but-it-isnt-enough-we-need-an-industrial-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/05\/26\/lollobrigida-the-suspension-of-tariffs-on-fertilisers-is-a-good-move-but-it-isnt-enough-we-need-an-industrial-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Lollobrigida: “The suspension of tariffs on fertilisers is a good move, but it isn’t enough; we need an industrial strategy”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – “We believe it is necessary to introduce appropriate adjustments to the ETS emissions trading system in order to avoid a further increase in production costs compared to international competitors<\/strong>.“<\/strong> This <\/span>statement<\/strong> was made by the Italian Minister for Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, <\/span>Francesco Lollobrigida<\/b>, during a public session of today\u2019s Agriculture and Fisheries Council (26 May). “<\/span>The crisis in Hormuz marks one of the many critical issues facing the global system, for which Europe is not prepared. On fertilisers, we are calling for an industrial strategy and the use of digestate,<\/b> which is entirely in line with environmental sustainability,” he added during a press briefing. “The time for delays, excessive bureaucracy, and endless waits for answers is over. We have reiterated this, and I must say that many nations today have expressed support for our request,” commented the minister. <\/p>\n

In response to the rise in fertiliser prices caused by the war in Iran, the Commission adopted a Fertiliser<\/a> Action Plan <\/a>on 19 May<\/span><\/span>. This is an initiative aimed at <\/span>supporting farmers, <\/span><\/a>addressing rising costs and fertiliser shortages, with a view to strengthening domestic production and reducing Europe\u2019s dependence on imports. Among the various measures, the plan provides for the Commission to provide <\/span>exceptional support through existing instruments under EU agricultural policy, to mobilise the EU budget to significantly increase the agricultural reserve<\/strong> and to adopt measures to support the domestic fertiliser industry. However, according to the Commission, this must be reintegrated into the forthcoming review of the Emissions Trading System (ETS), the main European instrument for decarbonisation.<\/span> <\/p>\n

At a meeting today, European agriculture ministers expressed their views on the plan. The Minister of Agriculture of Cyprus\u2014the country currently holding the six-month presidency of the EU Council\u2014Maria Panayiotou described<\/a> it as <\/span>“a toolbox, a roadmap<\/strong><\/span>,” but reservations were expressed. On the subject, Lollobrigida noted that “the time for delays and excessive bureaucracy, for endless waits for answers, is over<\/strong><\/span>,” emphasising that other nations also agreed with Italy\u2019s requests. <\/span><\/p>\n

For<\/strong> Minister Lollobrigida<\/strong>, however, this is not enough. “I welcome the initiative leading to a one-year suspension of customs duties on the main nitrogen-based fertilisers<\/strong>, although we believe it is completely insufficient<\/strong><\/span>,” he explained. “For this reason, at the national level, we have taken action to support the sector with a temporary measure aimed at offsetting the rise in the cost of fertilisers used in agriculture,” he added. For the minister, “the issue of the availability and affordability of fertilisers is now central to European food security and the competitiveness of our agricultural sector”, and “the measures set out by the Commission in its 2022 communication must be adapted to the changed geopolitical context, and quickly,” he stated. <\/span><\/p>\n

In particular, “in the short term, it is necessary to incentivise the production and marketing of innovative fertilisers<\/strong>, including those derived from the recovery of by-products, in line with the principles of the circular economy.” This is a process that “we believe needs to be accelerated”, he added. For Lollobrigida, \u201calternatives to chemical fertilisers are necessary to pursue environmental sustainability as a common goal.\u201d But this \u201ccannot, in our view, ever be separated from ensuring the vitality and economic and social resilience of agricultural systems and rural areas,\u201d he continued. “With this in mind, we welcome the priorities identified by the Fertiliser Action Plan, including nutrient circularity, domestic fertiliser production and the development of alternatives of biological origin.”<\/span><\/p>\n

During the press conference held at the end of the meeting, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen<\/strong>, underlined<\/a><\/strong>  that \u201cthere is currently no immediate risk to the availability of food and fertilisers, but there are concerns regarding rising input costs, because ensuring more stable trade relations through networks of fair agreements is of great importance.\u201d According to the Commissioner, we must \u201cact swiftly on the various issues, as well as on immediate financial support<\/strong>.\u201d On entering the meeting this morning, Hansen noted that, to tackle the fertiliser supply crisis, \u201cthe Commission will mobilise the remaining amount of the Agricultural Reserve, which currently stands at around 200 million, and will propose to the budgetary authority that this amount be at least doubled, thereby making it a very significant budget.\u201d Furthermore, \u201cin the short term, the Commission will provide targeted and exceptional support to the farmers most affected\u201d and will also propose \u201ca package of targeted measures comprising three elements: a new liquidity scheme, flexibility for advance payments to farmers, and support for fertilisation efficiency, so that all available funds under the Common Agricultural Policy\u2019s strategic plans can be utilised.\u201d<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Hansen, pointed out that, in order to tackle the fertiliser supply crisis, “the Commission will draw down the remaining amount from the Agricultural Reserve, which currently stands at around 200 million, and will propose to the budgetary authority that this amount be at least doubled, thereby making it a very substantial budget”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7907,"featured_media":454860,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25709,25705],"tags":[26180,34240,26001,27194,29899,26884,26281,27853,27389],"class_list":["post-454879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agrifood-en","category-business","tag-concimi","tag-council-en","tag-cipro-en","tag-ets-en","tag-commissione-ue-en","tag-fertilizers-en","tag-lithuania-en","tag-lollobrigida-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7907"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":454880,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454879\/revisions\/454880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}