An Irish MEP wants potential revenue from the expanded Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to be directed to supporting farmers affected by rising fertilizer costs.
Proposed new rules to expand the scope of CBAM beyond basic raw materials, to cover a wider range of finished products, could also create a more level playing field, Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan said today (Wednesday 8 July).
The European Parliament said products imported into the EU “must adhere to the same pollutant payment rules as EU products.”
She believes an expanded CBAM could be “a powerful tool for the EU to help ensure that big companies inside and outside the EU will make less polluting decisions.”
Boylan is the lead negotiator for the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee (INTA) on CBAM.
Kabam
Members of the European Parliament voted yesterday (Tuesday 7 July) in favor of strengthening the EU’s CBAM system and “closing the loopholes”.
They also want to receive financial support from the relevant temporary decarbonization fund from 2027 to 2029 and not just from 2028 as proposed by the European Commission.
MEPs in the Environment Committee said that because fertilizers are a “strategic input to food security”, they also want to open the fund to fertilizer producers and downstream users facing higher carbon-related input costs – with products such as urea, ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulphate added to the list of eligible goods.
But according to Copa Cogeca, the MEPs’ vote left farmers “fully exposed to the additional costs resulting” from CBAM.
The umbrella organization representing EU farmers and agricultural cooperatives said the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Climate and Food Safety (ENVI) had removed “the only safety valve for farmers in crises”.
Fertilizers
The European Parliament also adopted measures aimed at mitigating the impact of rising fertilizer prices on farmers.
MEPs have voted in favor of new measures to provide farmers with financial support and faster access to more direct payments from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Parliament voted under its own urgent procedure to adopt the changes to the rules of the Common Agricultural Policy as proposed by the European Commission.
The European Parliament said that members of the European Parliament decided to accelerate changes in the Common Agricultural Policy to ensure that farmers receive timely assistance to purchase fertilizer for the next agricultural season.
European Commission last month Details revealed From a major support package to help farmers fight the fertilizer crisis, with a potential new financial aid of €1.5 billion.
