19
May
2026
Watch
Presentation of the Fertilisers Action Plan (debate)
Madam President, What we are witnessing here again today at our doorstep is estimated to be the tenth time that European farmers have demonstrated here in front of our house. You are absolutely right when you look at the situation, you are absolutely right! They are demonstrating for their own rights and they have a hard time. When we talk about plant protection products here today, we are not just talking about agriculture. We're talking about energy prices and we're talking about security of supply, and we're talking about whether Europe is actually taking its own farmers seriously or whether it's just kidding them more. Plant protection is energy-intensive: If the price of gas is expensive and the price of electricity is expensive, the factories close. This means, on the other hand, that we depend on imports. Just like European energy policy, we have already paid dearly for all this. The Commission is now promising an action plan, something we have heard many times in the past. It will be too little to simply deliver green headlines. But: honest energy policy, stable gas supply and low electricity prices, less bureaucracy and no ideological price increase.