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Komisarz UE: potrzebne trwałe rozwiązania nawozowe, by uniknąć niedoboru żywności w UE
Komisarz UE ds. rolnictwa ostrzegł, że przy drożejących nawozach Unia musi zapewnić trwałe dostawy, a nie tylko krótkie wsparcie, by uniknąć braków żywności.
CZYTAJ WIĘCEJ : http://pl.euronews.com/2026/06/10/komisarz-ue-potrzebne-trwale-rozwiazania-nawozowe-by-uniknac-niedoboru-zywnosci-w-ue
Zasubskrybuj nasz kanał.Euronews jest dostępny na Dailymotion w 12 językach
Komisarz UE ds. rolnictwa ostrzegł, że przy drożejących nawozach Unia musi zapewnić trwałe dostawy, a nie tylko krótkie wsparcie, by uniknąć braków żywności.
CZYTAJ WIĘCEJ : http://pl.euronews.com/2026/06/10/komisarz-ue-potrzebne-trwale-rozwiazania-nawozowe-by-uniknac-niedoboru-zywnosci-w-ue
Zasubskrybuj nasz kanał.Euronews jest dostępny na Dailymotion w 12 językach
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NewsTranscript
00:07Hello and welcome to the Europe Conversation, I'm Stefan Grobe.
00:11My guest today is EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christoph Hansen,
00:16whose passion for his portfolio sort of runs in the family.
00:20He's the son of a farmer and the Agriculture Minister of Luxembourg is his cousin.
00:25He previously served as environmental advisor to the permanent representation of Luxembourg to the EU
00:31and to the Luxembourgish EU presidency before becoming an MEP and then later Commissioner.
00:37Commissioner Hansen, thank you so much for joining me. Great to have you here.
00:41I'm glad to be with you, Stefan.
00:43When farming and environmental interests clash, which happens occasionally in Brussels,
00:50you understand both arguments very well. Does that make your life easier?
00:55Well, I would say it makes my life easier, yes, but I think as well the farmers understand very well
01:00that they cannot produce without a healthy environment.
01:03They need good quality water, good quality soils, sufficient water as well.
01:07They are as well the first victims of climate change.
01:10So the farmers, in principle, have all interest to work together hand in hand with the nature, with the environment.
01:15And that is sometimes where we need to help them in order to come to that way,
01:20to become more sustainable with a support, financial support, but as well technical support.
01:26So I think this goes really hand in hand.
01:28We have climate and environment objectives and our farmers are the best tool to achieve them as well.
01:32And I think that is something where we need to find solutions in dialogue with the farmers and not against
01:38the farmers.
01:38And that is why we have set up as well several foa, like the European Board on Agriculture and Food,
01:43to solve these kind of problems and eventually differences that there could arise.
01:48Time and again, farmers across Europe have protested against Brussels, against EU policy.
01:54What would you say, what was the single biggest mistake the EU made in dealing with farmers?
02:01Well, first of all, against Brussels, that's always difficult to define what Brussels is,
02:05because as well here in Brussels are the ministers coming together in the council
02:10and as well the members of the European Parliament, which all come from European countries.
02:14So it's a co-decision process.
02:17And sometimes member states have as well the tendency to over implement certain legislation coming from the European level.
02:23So I would be a little bit more careful on blaming Brussels because there are many people from the capitals
02:29there.
02:30As well, the biggest mistake, I think, was eventually, and I say it now,
02:34the dialogue with the farming community and the environmental community is something you need to take a life.
02:40You need as well to take out of that the permanent confrontation and find for common solutions,
02:46because I think the objectives, everybody understands them on both sides.
02:50And now the problem is, of course, how do we get there?
02:54And there again, I think everybody needs to make some compromises.
02:57And this dialogue is something that I put on very highly on my agenda.
03:01I traveled as well to the 27 member states in the first year of my mandate.
03:06And I think that is bringing a certain change.
03:08So this lack eventually of communication with the base, in the ground, in the rural areas,
03:14that was maybe a little bit too much distance.
03:17And I tried to remedy to that.
03:19The war in Iran is adding new pressures on the agriculture community, the agriculture industry,
03:27particularly with rising fertilizer costs.
03:31What are the solutions?
03:33Well, of course, we have to say that the fertilizer crisis had already started way before the Middle East crisis,
03:39because we had as well seen, due to the energy crisis that we had in the beginning of the 2020s,
03:46fertilizer prices had gone up by 60% from 2020 to 2024.
03:51And that is why we were already planning this fertilizer action plan,
03:55which, of course, we have now to adapt a little bit,
03:58because the problem is a longstanding problem.
04:01We are over dependent on energy imported from outside the European Union.
04:06And when we speak fertilizers, the main ingredient in the end of our fertilizers,
04:10the chemical fertilizers, is energy.
04:12So this is, of course, a longstanding problem.
04:14At the same time, we have as well imports from fertilizers,
04:18around 40 to 45% of our fertilizers are imported from third countries.
04:22And that makes us quite vulnerable to have this dependency.
04:25And that is why we now adapted this fertilizer action plan.
04:29We proposed it on the 19th of May,
04:31and which will bring as well short-term solutions in the form of financial aid.
04:36So we will put on the table more than half a billion euros to help farmers immediately.
04:41Money that can be topped up by the member states.
04:43So we have the short-term financial support.
04:46But we're looking as well into solutions in the medium term
04:50to make a better use of our available organic fertilizers,
04:55because we are underusing this potential nutrient recycling, precision farming.
05:00So there is a lot to win on efficiency as well and better nutrient use.
05:05And then, of course, we need as well to strengthen in a certain form our industry,
05:09to remain a producer on the European soil.
05:13And there, I think we need as well to do these steps together with the industry.
05:18On this fertilizer action plan, what is its main message to put farmers at ease?
05:26The main message is we have you back for the next sowing season,
05:31because a lot of farmers are considering not to produce,
05:36because it's just too expensive and they can't pass on the costs.
05:39And that is why they need an immediate financial release,
05:42which we have now put on the table.
05:44And, of course, in the meanwhile, we need to do our homework as well
05:48and address the issues in order to make fertilizers not only available,
05:53but as well affordable, because otherwise there will be food shortages
05:57in the European Union, but also in the world.
06:00And that will have a direct impact on the prices for the consumers.
06:03And I think that is what we need to consider.
06:06We should, these crises, we are not in the first fertilizer crisis.
06:11We have now two consecutive ones, very important.
06:15And this will come back if we are not ensuring a more stable
06:19and more reliable production cycle and availability.
06:23And that is why we need to act now.
06:25That might cost some money in the first place,
06:27but in the medium and long term, this will be less expensive
06:30than be over-dependent.
06:32And that is exactly the essence as well from a common agriculture policy.
06:35Fertilizers are an important part of very vulnerable supply chains.
06:41How do we secure them for the future?
06:44Then we need, of course, reliable partnerships,
06:47because not everything that we use in the fertilizers
06:50is actually available and produced in the European Union.
06:54So this is why this domestic and international partnership
06:59is of such utmost importance.
07:02And that is why we have, by the way, as well,
07:05a meeting of the G7 agriculture minister to discuss this.
07:09The problem is not only European, it's a global problem.
07:12And there the cooperation will be key.
07:14Yeah, indeed.
07:15Now, some fertilizers are environmentally controversial.
07:19Is it fair to ask European farmers
07:21to meet strict environmental requirements
07:24while importing food from countries that don't?
07:29Well, I think we have the highest standards
07:31in the European Union worldwide.
07:34There may be some other third countries
07:35that are on the same level.
07:37But, of course, to ask more from our farmers
07:40comes as well at the price again.
07:43And I think we need as well to not be hypocrite
07:45if we impose this to our farmers.
07:48We need as well to at least expect the same criteria
07:51when products are coming in.
07:52And I think we have some recent examples
07:54that show very clearly our system works.
07:57Certain products are not allowed into the European Union.
08:01We have as well recently proposed
08:03the so-called food and feed omnibus
08:05where we put the maximum residue levels
08:07of certain plant protection products
08:09that are not allowed in the European Union
08:11to zero when it comes to imports
08:13in order to align this production.
08:15And I think this is something very key to say.
08:18Our food security as well when it comes to the standards
08:21is not up for discussion,
08:23is not up for negotiation.
08:25If the Mercosur Agreement comes into force,
08:28can you guarantee it won't hurt European farmers?
08:31Well, I think we have to be very careful
08:36not to generalize.
08:37Because when I speak to different farming organizations,
08:40depending on the sector,
08:42some are asking me,
08:43we have to do this agreement.
08:44We need to export our production.
08:46Otherwise, we will have to close back here.
08:50I think that is something we don't want.
08:51We have a crisis in the dairy sector.
08:54Currently, we have a crisis in the wines and spirit sectors.
08:57And these products need to be sold somewhere.
08:59Otherwise, either our farmers just become bankrupt
09:03or we have to intervene financially with money
09:06where it's very difficult to say where it should come from.
09:09So these markets, that's our offensive sectors.
09:12And for the defensive sectors, like beef, like poultry,
09:16we have carefully negotiated tariff rate quotas.
09:19We have like an emergency break to stop the imports.
09:23And I think that is a security we have never had before.
09:25But of course, as well, on the production standards,
09:28I think we need to do our homework,
09:31and especially in the member states,
09:32when it comes to the controls at our ports,
09:34at our airports, where the products come in,
09:37that these controls and checks are gone.
09:39So are European consumers willing to pay more
09:42for European standards?
09:44Or is that a political assumption?
09:46Well, it depends on the consumers.
09:48Of course, there are a lot of consumers
09:50that just go for the cheapest option.
09:52But I think we need to put more on the dance floor,
09:57let's say, our European products as well.
10:00And I believe it's very important that when it's European,
10:03that this is more visible,
10:04because consumers are eventually willing
10:08to pay a few cents more if it is a European product,
10:11especially when it comes, for example, to processed food.
10:15And I think that is in line as well
10:16with the Buy European Food Campaign
10:18that the Commission President von der Leyen
10:21presented last year.
10:23Therefore, we need now as well to implement this,
10:26make the information to the consumer available
10:29to benefit as well more from the domestic market.
10:33And these are the next steps to do.
10:34Also, I think public procurement has a big role to play.
10:38And that is something where we are working currently
10:41as well on to include as well food,
10:43because we serve around 8 million meals
10:46in our canteens, in the schools, or in hospitals, etc.
10:49This has a huge potential leverage to better reward
10:53the higher standard foods that we produce
10:58in the European Union to as well reward better
11:00the regional products.
11:02And I think that is a way we need to explore as well
11:05to be more resilient and help our farmers
11:08to have the proper income they deserve.
11:10So, at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year,
11:15you spoke at an event,
11:17War of Nutrition Resilience Against Food Weaponization.
11:21How can we prevent food from becoming a weapon in war?
11:27Well, of course, I think it's very important
11:29that we become aware about the origin
11:33of our common agriculture policy,
11:35because in the 1950s, 60s,
11:39Europe was not necessarily a continent
11:41where we were self-sufficient in food production.
11:43That is why we had to encourage food production.
11:46That came at a price,
11:47but this price, again, was lower than to be dependent,
11:51lower than to be starving,
11:52and lower than to have the political instability
11:55that we see in many countries in the world
11:57due to insufficient food available.
12:01So, I think that is important to remember us.
12:04And this is something we need,
12:06you and me, two to three times a day.
12:08We need a proper food in order to be in good shape,
12:12to be healthy.
12:13And that is something that should not be at the mercy
12:17of imports or unstable partners
12:20that eventually produce,
12:21a little bit less expensive than we do.
12:24But nonetheless, we see these dependencies
12:26in many other sectors
12:27when it comes to semiconductors,
12:29when it comes to medical products
12:31and to energy as well.
12:33That makes us vulnerable.
12:35And I think for these vulnerabilities,
12:38we need really to tackle them
12:40in order not to be able to be blackmailed.
12:43And that is something that currently happens with food.
12:45There is food diplomacy.
12:47There is fertilizer diplomacy or warfare.
12:51You can call it as you want,
12:52but this is happening right now.
12:53And we need to step up.
12:54Should food security take priority
12:57over environmental targets
13:00when the two come into conflict?
13:02I think they can work hand in hand
13:04and they have to work hand in hand
13:06because otherwise, again,
13:07we would compromise the future of food security.
13:11So that is something we can,
13:13you cannot have one or the other.
13:14It's not black and white.
13:16It needs to go together.
13:17Now, it's not only the Iran war
13:20that is affecting EU farming,
13:22but also the war in Ukraine.
13:25Now, the EU has opened its market
13:26to Ukrainian agricultural products.
13:29Have some European farmers paid the price
13:32for European solidarity with Ukraine?
13:36The European farmers have shown
13:38a huge example of solidarity with Ukraine.
13:40I think that has to be said very clearly.
13:44And I'm very grateful for that.
13:45And we had indeed during the autonomous trade measures
13:48the first reaction, a liberalization of trade.
13:51There were, especially in some bordering countries,
13:54a huge impact on the farming sector.
13:56And I can really understand
13:57that this was an unsustainable situation for them.
14:01But meanwhile, we have updated
14:03the deep and comprehensive free trade agreement
14:06with a carefully balanced tariff rate quota.
14:10So we have controls about what and how much comes in.
14:13And as well, these concessions have been bound very clearly
14:16to meeting the standards of European production by 2028
14:21when it comes to the use of plant protection products,
14:24when it comes to animal welfare.
14:25And if the Ukrainian side will not be able to get there,
14:30then we have as well the possibility
14:31to interrupt this agreement.
14:33So I think we have now a stable situation
14:35that has been, that before this stable situation
14:39had been caused turbulences.
14:42But now, of course, what we absorb is absorbable as well.
14:46It's products that we need anyhow.
14:48What is important is that we help the Ukrainians as well
14:51to permanently get to their historic markets as well.
14:54This has been hugely interrupted.
14:56So how do you balance supporting Ukraine
15:00with protecting EU farming interests in frontline states?
15:07I guess this is a challenge the more the war goes on.
15:11I've traveled as well to the first line countries,
15:17as you call them, the neighboring countries of Ukraine.
15:19and there is a lot of evidence
15:22that needs to be put in light as well
15:24because just because of the price of cereals
15:27is, for example, low, does not mean it is low
15:29because there is more imports from Ukraine
15:32because, as I said, this is now well calibrated.
15:35But again, we have a global,
15:36very, had a good harvest last year, for example,
15:39and this has led to a global price for wheat
15:42that was 170, 180 US a ton.
15:45But this is not the fault of Ukraine.
15:47It's, of course, the result of a global good harvest.
15:51And I think there we need as well
15:53to find other solutions for our farmers
15:55to bring up their added value.
15:59And I think we have a lot to win
16:00when we speak, for example, about protein plants
16:04where we are currently not self-sufficient.
16:07And therefore, I don't see the interest
16:09of exporting raw grain without a lot of added value
16:13while we can use these products even better
16:16and more efficient and better rewarding domestically.
16:20So I think that is something we will be looking as well
16:22in our protein action plan that we are working on.
16:26On another topic, the debate over the next EU long-term budget
16:29is ongoing.
16:31EU leaders aim to reach an agreement by the end of the year.
16:35And it is clear already that agriculture
16:38is going to represent a large chunk of that budget,
16:43roughly one-third.
16:45So my question is, why should taxpayers continue
16:48spending billions of euros on agricultural subsidies?
16:52Well, if we get to one-third of that budget,
16:54I would be very glad.
16:56So I hope you are right on that.
16:57But it will, of course, depend on the willingness
16:59of the member states to go into that direction.
17:01And it's not about speaking about this share.
17:04But of course, the EU budget on its own
17:07is not very big compared to other economies in the world.
17:13So I think there we have to be very clear
17:16that it's not about shares,
17:17but eventually that we are not contributing sufficiently
17:20to a new EU budget.
17:21I think for this global crisis that we are facing,
17:24it's not less Europe or to be frugal
17:28that will solve the problem.
17:29I think we have to step up our efforts to be bolder.
17:32And I think that is something we,
17:34that's a first remark I would make.
17:37The second one, of course, as I said earlier,
17:39we impose high standards, higher standards,
17:43the highest standards in the world
17:44to our farming and food producing community.
17:47This comes with a price.
17:48I think we have to be very clear.
17:50And this price needs as well then to be compensated
17:53if the markets don't do.
17:54Because as I said earlier, a farmer,
17:56when they have to switch from one technology
17:59to another, for example,
18:01or reduce their emissions,
18:02they cannot hand over the price so easily
18:05because they are competing.
18:06We are not living on an island,
18:07fortunately, I would say.
18:09And that is why this high standards come at a cost.
18:13This food sovereignty comes at a cost.
18:15The preservation of our cultural landscapes
18:18comes at a cost.
18:19and that is not just for the benefit of the farmer
18:22because the farmers are not rich men and women
18:25because when we see their salary,
18:28it's around 65% of the EU average salary.
18:31So they are well below.
18:33And that is why it is so important
18:34to support the community
18:35in order to continue to produce
18:37and not be dependent on Russia or China
18:40or who else when it comes to food production.
18:43One quick one.
18:44What is your biggest concern
18:46for European farming for the next decade?
18:49Is it climate change?
18:51Is it global competition?
18:53Or is it demographics?
18:55I would say it's demographics
18:57because this has a huge impact, of course.
19:01It's as well, of course,
19:05the others are not negligible.
19:07So it's difficult to choose climate change.
19:09We need to adapt to it.
19:11And I think, again, we need as well
19:13to invest into this adaption.
19:15And I think, for example,
19:17as well, when you speak about
19:18the future multi-annual financial framework,
19:21the future budget,
19:22there is as well a competitiveness fund.
19:24And I think in some regions, for example,
19:26without investment into water infrastructure,
19:28there will be no production,
19:30not agriculture and not tourism economy.
19:35And I think that we need really to stop a little bit,
19:38just looking at the short term
19:39and having as well more long-term perspectives.
19:42That makes us quite weak
19:44if we don't have the long-term perspectives,
19:46but probably this is as well linked
19:48to the political cycles.
19:49All right.
19:50Christoph Hansen, EU Agriculture Commissioner.
19:52Thank you so much for coming on the show today.
19:54Thank you as well.
19:58Thank you so much for coming on the show today.
19:59Thank you.
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