According to Euractiv, the European Commission aims to make the bloc "circular" regarding nutrients and reduce nitrogen losses in agriculture. However, a long-awaited strategy in this regard seems to hang in the balance as the EU elections approach.

A Challenge

Nutrient losses, meaning the leakage of nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus from agricultural production into the soil or water, represent a key challenge for Europe's agri-food system.

On the one hand, fertilizers are used inefficiently if some of the nutrients they are supposed to introduce into crops are lost—a problem that is particularly acute in the face of high fertilizer prices and the struggle to reduce dependence on Russian fertilizers.

On the other hand, the leakage of substances like nitrogen also leads to soil, water, and air pollution.

Therefore, in its Farm to Fork strategy, the European Commission has set the goal of reducing nutrient losses by at least 50% by 2030, claiming that it would reduce fertilizer use by at least 20%.

"It is possible to reduce the harmful effects of the nitrogen cycle without jeopardizing overall objectives," said Fabien Santini, Deputy Head of Unit in the Commission's Agricultural Service (DG Agri), at a recent event in the European Parliament.

The Commission's actions on fertilizers are not long enough, warn MEPs.

EU legislators see the Commission's recent communication on fertilizers as just a first step to ensure the EU's strategic autonomy in this sector, prompting them to consider more long-term actions to support farmers in difficulty.

Nutrient Management Plan Still Missing

Despite the EU elections set for next June, the EU executive has not submitted its much-anticipated Nutrient Management Action Plan (INMAP), and, as Santini confirmed, it has not set a date for when it intends to present it.

"We do not have a date for the publication of this document," he said, adding that "this does not mean it is not important."

However, stakeholders and researchers increasingly doubt whether the strategy, for which the preparatory public consultation ended in the summer of 2022, will come before the end of the mandate.

In a letter sent to the Commission in mid-September, 14 NGOs and several academics highlighted the need "to ensure that this key component of the European Green Deal is delivered rapidly." Faced with significant nutrient losses, action is "urgent," the signatories argued.

Concerns about the nutrient action plan arise as several key files of the Green Deal in agriculture, such as a law on sustainable food systems and a significant part of a promised animal welfare reform, were not included in the Commission's latest work program covering the period until the elections.

EU Farmers Criticize Commission's Fertilizer Plan

EU farmers have criticized the European Commission's plans to support the sector amid the fertilizer crisis, accusing the EU executive of offering farmers "almost nothing" ahead of the upcoming spring season.

Meanwhile, Wim de Vries, a professor at Wageningen University, emphasized during the event that improving fertilizer use efficiency is one of the main levers for better nutrient management.

"If you don't recycle nitrogen, out of 100 kilograms of nitrogen [applied as fertilizer], only 14 kilograms end up on your plate," he explained. "It's enormous losses."

These losses, he added, occur through food and harvest losses, but especially during fertilizer application.

The nitrogen that leaches into the natural environment in various forms then has various negative effects, according to the researcher: released as ammonia, it has a negative impact on biodiversity, while gases like nitrous oxide contribute to global warming.

"Finally, water quality is affected by both nitrogen and phosphorus," he added.

Meanwhile, Santini also emphasized the "link between food waste and nutrient management" and highlighted the Commission's recently proposed objectives in this regard.

In July, the Commission put forward a proposal that includes legally binding EU-wide targets for reducing food waste. "This is something we should think about," Santini said.