EU member states have agreed a common Council position on proposed new rules intended to help farmers deal with higher fertiliser prices linked to the recent crisis in the Middle East.
The agreement gives the rotating Council Presidency a mandate to start negotiations with the European Parliament under an urgent procedure, with the aim of reaching a deal at first reading, the Council of the EU informed on Wednesday.
“The Council has acted swiftly to help farmers facing rising fertiliser costs,” Maria Panayiotou, Cyprus’s minister of agriculture, rural development and environment, said.
Under the proposal, member states would be able to provide temporary and targeted financial support to farmers most affected by increased fertiliser costs.
The draft regulation would also allow member states to pay advances from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) — the bloc’s main farm subsidy programme — earlier and at a higher rate in 2026, to help with short-term cash-flow needs.
How the support would work
A further change would give countries more flexibility to adjust how they allocate direct payments in 2027, depending on national circumstances and priorities, according to the Council.
The measures would be funded from within the existing CAP budget and are intended as a temporary response to the current market situation.
Fertilisers are a major cost for many farms, and recent developments in the Middle East have contributed to higher energy and fertiliser prices, increasing financial pressure on farmers across the EU.
The European Commission presented the proposal on 12 June 2026 as part of a wider package responding to the impact of the Middle East crisis on agricultural input markets.
