An Irish MEP has called on the government to "match the EU's 150% increase in fertiliser support funding".

MEP Ciaran Mullooly said farmers "need certainty now" and that the government "must make a decision as a matter of urgency".

Mullooly said that the European Commission’s decision to increase support for farmers affected by soaring fertiliser costs from €200 million to €500 million is an "acknowledgement that farmers across Ireland and Europe are facing a serious and growing crisis".

The Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration, Piotr Serafin, this week confirmed details of the crisis funding.

However, the Independent Ireland MEP warned that the package, as it stands, remains a "relatively small measure when set against the scale of the problem".

According to the commission’s own figures, overall nitrogen fertiliser prices in April 2026 were 71% higher than the 2024 average.

This is a "price shock that points to additional costs running into several billion euro across the European agricultural sector", Mullooly said.

CBAM

He said any support for farmers struggling with rising input costs is welcome, but warned that the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) remains the "elephant in the room" while farmers are already under severe pressure.

The MEP went on to say that, “according to estimates from Copa-Cogeca, CBAM will increase fertiliser costs by approximately €820 million in 2026 alone".

"Yet, rather than addressing this additional burden at source, the commission has chosen to leave the mechanism in place while offering a support package that falls well short of the costs farmers will be expected to bear," he said.

Mullooly has called on the European Commission to "fully reimburse the value of the CBAM levy back to farmers and to do so without delay".

"If the commission is unwilling to suspend or temporarily remove the CBAM burden on fertilisers during this crisis, then the least it can do is ensure that every euro collected through the mechanism is returned to the agricultural sector," he said.

Food security

Mullooly said that at a time "when food security, farm viability and agricultural competitiveness are under increasing pressure", Europe must ensure that its policies "support those who produce our food rather than adding further costs to already struggling farm businesses".

"Irish farmers, like their counterparts across Europe, need practical and lasting solutions," he said.

"Farmers deserve more than partial relief. Europe cannot claim to support its farmers on one hand while imposing additional costs on them with the other."