MEPs continue dialogue on the New Fertilizer Regulation

Collaboration is crucial for product quality and securing competitive production capacity of mineral fertilizers in Europe

MEP Ildikó Gáll-Pelcz, Vice-President of the European Parliament and lead Rapporteur for the IMCO Committee, hosted a breakfast debate in order to continue the discussion on the New Fertilizer Regulation, a proposal that was introduced by the European Commission in March 2016. This proposal is vital to the entire fertilizer industry as it encompasses all fertilizing products, including mineral, organo-mineral, organic, biostimulants, and growing media.

The event incorporated viewpoints from all relevant parliamentary committees, welcoming perspectives from host MEP Ildikó Gáll-Pelcz from IMCO (HU), ENVI by MEP Elisabetta Gardini (IT), AGRI from MEP Jan Huitema (NL) and an INTA position by an IMCO member and Vice-Chair of the EPP Working Group on Environment MEP Prof. Dariusz Rosati (PL). Markku Korvenrata, Executive Vice-President for Base Chemicals and Fertilizers at Borealis, delivered his position from the angle of the mineral fertilizer industry. He thus stressed the importance of respecting balance between safeguarding the environment and technical feasibility of achieving the proposal’s goals to ensure a competitive future for manufacturers in Europe.

MEP Gáll-Pelcz, as the host, welcomed the large audience by stating that open dialogue and establishing common ground are the key to achieving a harmonized market in Europe. MEP Gardini also suggested that our best intended ideologies sometimes do not align with the realities, referring to the Commission’s proposal  for low cadmium limits in finished phosphate fertilizers, while MEP Rosati reminded of the importance of preserving an independent and competitive European fertilizer sector. MEP Huitema insightfully emphasized the significance of the pursuit of circular economy. The constructive debate between the MEPs and the audience favored an approach that would strike a correct balance from all points-of-view, supporting one of the most important industries in agriculture as well as achieving a protected environment. All industry stakeholders and other decision-makers ought to collaborate and focus on the outcome of having the highest level of quality for fertilizing products on the European market.

The high attendance by key political decision-makers as well as industry representatives once again reflected the significance of the New Fertilizer Regulation and also the collective aspiration to provide farmers with quality products and to secure competitive production capacity of mineral fertilizers in Europe.