Over 70 civil society organisations, farmers, and academic organisations have sent an open letter to the European Commission warning that its upcoming EU Fertiliser Action Plan must signal the end of fossil fuel dependency in the EU’s food system.

This was revealed in a statement signed by the Global Media Relations Officer of the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Geneva, Switzerland, NiccolòSarno, who said the letter was led by the firm, the European Environment Bureau (EEB), and IFOAM Organics Europe.

“As the conflict in the Gulf continues to destabilise energy markets, the groups addressed Executive Vice-President Ribera and five Commissioners to highlight that the EU’s current agricultural productivity remains dangerously vulnerable to external shocks.

“The message is clear: the EU cannot achieve self-sufficiency while 90 per cent of its gas and nearly a third of its nitrogen fertilisers are imported from outside the bloc.

“The war in the Gulf is a stark reminder that the food on our plates is at the mercy of volatile fossil fuels. Simply swapping one fossil-based chemical for another, or changing where or how they are produced, is a band-aid, not a strategy,” the statement read.

The Agrochemicals and Fossil Fuels Campaigner at the CIEL, Lisa Tostado added that the EU Fertiliser Action Plan must be the turning point where they stop trying to ‘fix’ a broken, fossil-dependent model and instead begin scaling the agroecological solutions that already exist to provide real resilience and food sovereignty.

The letter calls on the European Commission to shift its focus from short-term measures to a fundamental transformation of the EU’s food system. The letter also outlines four key priorities for the EU Fertiliser Action Plan – support for low-input practices: prioritisingagroecology, organic farming, and biological nitrogen fixation through legumes; and legislative enforcement: upholding the Nitrates Directive and other existing environmental safeguards.

Others are improving nitrogen efficiency: combining more sustainable agricultural practices with a shift toward less nitrogen-intensive diets and reduced food waste; and biofertiliser innovation: developing regional, sustainable alternatives to fossil-fuel-based inputs.