PASOK MEPs, Giannis Maniatis, Sakis Arnaoutoglou and Nikos Papandreouthey are sounding the alarm about the critical situation facing the fertilizer sector, with a direct impact on Europe’s agricultural production and food security, asking a question to the European Commission.

The fertilizers, as they point out, are essential for the production of quality and sufficient food, but their production depends largely on the raw materials of third countries and is affected by the high energy costs in the EU.

The energy crisis of recent years has highlighted the industry’s great weakness, with 70% of fertilizers in Europe to put a padlock. This has resulted in reducing production, increasing prices and loss of jobs, while the risk of competitiveness and viability of the industry remains visible, they point out.

In their question, PASOK MEPs ask the Commission to take specific measures to decrease the cost of productionto ensure the adequacy of fertilizer and to support the SMEs of the industry, especially in Greece. The support of the European fertilizer industry is not only a matter of agricultural policy, but a crucial issue for food competence and strategic autonomy of the Union.

Following is the full text of the question:

Subject: Support measures for European fertilizer production.

Lubrication products are one of the key contributors to agricultural production. Their use contributes to the high and quality production of agri -food products, and is directly linked to the food safety of the entire European Union.

It is worth noting that the geographical uneven section of the necessary raw materials for their production make the fertilizer area dependent on third countries. At the same time, the extremely high energy costs in the EU is the main problem of the European fertilizer industry, directly affecting the prices of its finished products as well as food production.

These particular features of the European fertilizer sector make it vulnerable to crises, resulting in loss of competitiveness, continuous decline in production and often closing production units (in the recent energy crisis, 70% of European plants) and job loss.

Based on the above, the European Commission is asked:

• How does it intend to cope with the increased cost of production, as well as the adequacy, in order to enhance the competitiveness of the European fertilizer industry and at the same time the strategic and food autonomy of the entire Union?

• Does it intend to take targeted support measures for the large number of small and medium -sized enterprises active in the field of fertilizer, and in particular in Greece?