The European Commission published its Fertiliser Action Plan in response to rising energy and fertiliser prices linked to the Iran war, today (19 May 2026).

While the plan focuses on keeping fertilisers affordable in the short-term, it fails to address a major threat to Europe’s food security – farming's dependence on imported synthetic nitrogen fertilisers.

The EU imports around 30% of its nitrogen fertilisers, leaving farmers exposed to global price shocks and supply disruptions far beyond their control.

The vulnerability was exposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, when fertiliser prices rose sharply, and it is being exposed again by the latest turmoil in the Middle East.

And as long as farming remains highly reliant on synthetic fertilisers, future price spikes will continue to threaten food production, drive up costs, and undermine food security.

The EU’s Action Plan features short-sighted measures such as facilitating the use of RENURE and digestate, which risk exacerbating nitrogen pollution.. Meanwhile, longer-term solutions such as nature-friendly and organic farming are sidelined.

While some immediate relief for farmers may be necessary, this approach falls short as it risks locking farmers into vulnerable, unsustainable systems.

And as long as farming remains highly reliant on synthetic fertilisers, future price spikes will continue to threaten food production, drive up costs, and undermine food security.

It also comes with severe environmental and health costs. Nitrogen fertilisers contribute to water pollution, biodiversity loss, deteriorating soil health, greenhouse gas emissions, and air pollution. Research has estimated the environmental and health costs of nitrogen fertilisers in EU Member States at €70–320 billion per year.

In addition, the EU’s reliance on synthetic fertilisers is closely tied to industrial livestock farming and the huge volumes of feed needed to sustain it.

60% of EU arable land is used to grow feed for animals, such as wheat and maize. This increases pressure on food supplies and creates double nitrogen pollution - first from the fertiliser used to grow the grain and the second from animal manure.

Our recent report showed that if grain and soy were no longer used as feed, an extra two billion people could be fed each year.

Instead of locking Europe further into a damaging, volatile model, together with 70+ NGOs, we call on the Commission to:

Support farmers to transition to low-input practices, particularly through nature-friendly farming. Growing more legumes which naturally capture nitrogen from the air and improve soil quality, can be done quickly and at scale, for example.
Protect and enforce environmental legislation, including the Nitrates Directive.
Improve nitrogen use across the system with more sustainable agricultural practices.

Support regional biofertiliser production and transition away from synthetic nitrogen fertilisers.

Vinciane Patelou, our Head of EU, said:

The EU Fertiliser Action Plan should be the moment Europe addresses the vulnerabilities in our food system.

If the Commission is serious about resilience, it must go beyond short-term affordability measures and support a shift towards nature-friendly farming systems that reduce nitrogen pollution, improve soil health and move away from feed-based animal farming.

EU fails to break farming dependence on synthetic nitrogen fertilisers