“This so-called ‘climate protection’ instrument hits not only industry and consumers, but also our farmers with unprecedented severity. From 2026 onwards, CBAM certificates will have to be purchased on fertilisers from third countries in order to offset the emissions they contain. This will not only distort competition, it will also push the already tight cost calculations imposed on farmers by the EU to a whole new level. Across the EU, arable farmers in particular are struggling with low or even negative margins, with fertiliser prices playing a major role.
According to estimates, prices are expected to rise by between 10 and 30 percent. Who is supposed to be able to pay for that? Even now, some farmers are having to rely on short-term financing to buy fertiliser, and the banks are not always willing to play along. This attempt by the European Commission to force third countries into ‘climate-friendly’ behaviour on the backs of our farmers achieves nothing except to tighten the noose still further around European agriculture. At the same time, key factors for calculating CBAM have not even been defined by the Commission. It demands transparency on emissions, yet remains vague and opaque when it comes to its own rules.”
ESN Group MEP Arno Bausemer adds:
“We will fight in Brussels to have this damaging regulation scrapped as well. The European Commission is already putting massive pressure on our farmers through planned cuts to area-based payments and through low-quality imports from Ukraine and South America. On top of that, the import ban on affordable Russian fertiliser and now this left-green CBAM tax are threatening many thousands of jobs in agriculture. Our ESN Group firmly rejects this senseless and harmful interference and stands squarely by our farmers. The best thing would be to bring this whole emissions circus to an end as quickly as possible.”
