MEP back steep tariff on Russian and Belarusian fertilisers
Set to take effect on 1 July, the new tariffs will target certain nitrogen-based fertilisers, increasing duties from 6.5% to levels approaching 100% over a three-year period, effectively halting most imports.
Russia currently supplies 25% of the EU's nitrogen-based fertilisers, amounting to an estimated €1.3 billion annually. Additional duties will also be imposed on agri-food imports such as meat, dairy products, fruits, and vegetables from Russia and Belarus, representing about €380 million in annual trade.
The initiative gained momentum following sustained pressure from several member states and fertiliser industry leaders, who have advocated for swift action to bolster the EU's strategic independence.
Beyond economic considerations, the tariff hikes are also intended to address ethical concerns. Russia imposes a 23.5% export tax on key mineral fertilisers, revenue from which helps fund its military activities in Ukraine.
'We must stop financing Russia's war in Ukraine with our own financial resources. If the agriculture sector continues to pay for Russian fertilisers, that money directly supports the Russian budget,' said Latvian MEP Inese Vaidere, the Parliament's rapporteur on the file
She warned of growing EU dependence on Russian fertilisers and the risks of sudden supply disruptions, which could jeopardise agricultural stability.
The European fertiliser industry welcomed the Parliament's decision, describing it as a critical step toward reducing dependency and reinforcing Europe's economic security.
'We call on all EU institutions to act swiftly to finalise and enforce these tariffs,' said Leo Alders, president of FertilizersEurope. 'The sooner we implement these measures, the better we can protect our value chains, jobs, and food security.'
As the EU pushes forward with its strategy to reduce strategic dependencies and exert economic pressure on Russia, the challenge remains to balance geopolitical objectives with the immediate concerns of its farming community.
European farmers have expressed deep concern about the impact of the tariffs on agricultural competitiveness, input costs, and food security.
Cédric Benoist, from the French farmers' union FNSEA, warned of 'inflation in fertiliser prices within the European Union,' which would further strain farmers operating in a globally competitive market.
'We're already feeling the consequences in terms of farm income,' he said. 'Costs are rising, but we can't pass that on to consumers.'
Benoist noted that the price of nitrogen solution, a type of liquid fertiliser, has surged from €160 per tonne five years ago to €300 per tonne today, after peaking at €600-700 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also cautioned that uncertainty ahead of the July deadline is distorting the market: 'Fertiliser producers are withholding supply, waiting for the tariffs to kick in. That's driving prices even higher.'
He also cautioned that uncertainty ahead of the July deadline is distorting the market: 'Fertiliser producers are withholding supply, waiting for the tariffs to kick in. That's driving prices even higher.'
On Wednesday, the Swedish delegation from the Left group in the European Parliament filed a police report against EPP Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Alice Teodorescu Måwe, alleging physical assault.
According to Marie Antman, head of the Swedish Left's parliamentary office, one of her staff members entered her office "in a state of shock" and displayed marks on their arm. Antman declined to elaborate on the nature of the alleged violence but described the incident as 'exceptional' and 'unacceptable'.
'A Swedish MEP had physically attacked my colleague. This is extremely upsetting,' Antman told Swedish news agency TT. 'It was a situation where my staff member called for help, prompting security guards to intervene and calm things down. We have also reported the incident to the President of the Parliament.'
MEP Teodorescu Måwe, however, strongly denies the allegations and offers a conflicting account. According to the Swedish Christian Democrats' party secretary, it was Teodorescu Måwe who was subjected to harassment.
A statement posted on social media alleges that 'Teodorescu Måwe was harassed by an aggressive political staffer in the European Parliament. On her way to a meeting, Alice was confronted with threatening accusations without provocation. The situation was extremely distressing for her.'
According to her office, the staffer began filming and photographing Teodorescu Måwe. When she asked for an explanation, a confrontation followed. She then took out her phone to take a photo, prompting the staffer to allegedly attempt to seize her device. The situation escalated into a brief scuffle before security was called.
On Wednesday, Teodorescu Måwe reportedly met with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and requested protection in the wake of the incident. Teodorescu Måwe, who is currently back in her home country Sweden, will also report the staffer to Belgian police upon her return, according to her office.
An official spokesperson for the European Parliament confirmed that the incident is currently under internal investigation.
'The situation is being investigated as a matter of priority and the initial assessment confirms the MEP's version of events. There is a zero-tolerance policy for violence in the Parliament premises. The relevant services are mobilised. Assistance to the Member is also in place.'
The incident is captured on surveillance cameras, according to the spokesperson.
Euronews has contacted the office of Alice Teodorescu Måwe and the delegation of the Swedish left for comment.
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France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
‘Sami rights are at risk': Reindeer herders, environmentalists oppose mine in Norway's Arctic
On July 30, protesters arrived at a mine construction site in northern Norway that they had been blocking for six weeks, only to be met by a grim message: a reindeer skull, painted orange, hanging over the entrance. Environmentalists and Sami reindeer herders are protesting the development of the Nussir copper mine in the Repparfjord, in the country's far north, well above the Arctic Circle. The Sami people, who live in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, are the only recognised Indigenous people in Europe. The sight was "very disturbing", said Beaska Niillas, a member of the Sami Parliament and the Norwegian Sami Association, who has been working on this case for 15 years and regularly attends the protests. 'It was basically a 'f**k you'. I consider it a hate crime.' Protesters chain themselves to machinery Plans to construct the Nussir copper mine have been a source of fierce debate since the Nussir ASA mining company was created in 2005. Proponents have been touting the project as a vital source of jobs and a key contributor to Norway's green transition. Because of its natural conductivity, copper is a critical mineral for manufacturing electric vehicles, batteries, wind turbines, solar panels, and power grids – and demand for it is projected to nearly double by 2035. But the project has faced persistent opposition from critics who warn of its effects on the environment and local communities. In 2021, the Hammerfest municipality – where the mine is located – approved Nussir's development plans. Shortly after, activists chained themselves to construction equipment in protest. 'We formalised a coalition between the Norwegian Sami Association and two environmental NGOs, Nature and Youth and Friends of the Earth. Nature and Youth is organising the protests. At the Norwegian Sami association, we work politically and try to influence the political path,' Niillas explains. Opponents also filed a complaint alleging errors in the municipality's handling of the case, prompting officials to halt all work until the matter could be fully reviewed. Europe's largest copper producer, Aarubis, then terminated a provisional agreement to buy copper from Nussir, arguing 'certain social aspects of the project needed to be given even greater consideration'. But a new wave of opposition emerged after Blue Moon Metals – the Canadian company that acquired the mine in 2024 – began initial construction on June 12, 2025. In response, Nature and Youth established a protest camp near the site, calling on the public to join them. Protesters chained themselves to the construction site again, leading Nussir to call for police intervention. Footage posted on social media shows officers removing the individuals from the site. The activists first enjoyed a brief victory when the municipality ordered Nussir to halt work due to a lack of a valid operating permit. But it ultimately gave the project the green light just two weeks later. As the work was scheduled to resume on July 28, activists then breached the construction site again, chaining themselves to heavy machinery and prompting a police response to clear the area. 'I'm very happy that people are stepping up. They are protecting the land with their bodies. This time, members of the reindeer herding districts sat down with them,' Niillas specified. On July 30, police reported that more than 20 people had been removed from the construction site. 'You need to get the consent of the Sami people' Opponents argue that even though the mine received a licence from Norway in 2019 and a green light from the municipality in 2021, the work is illegal. Niilllas told our team: 'In 2019, they got the authorisation from the government. But there were conditions in that permission, and those conditions are not fulfilled. You have to do consultations with the aim of getting the free, prior and informed consent of Sami people. They have not consulted the Sami Parliament. They have never consulted the reindeer herding district. So they are very much working against the law. I'm really worried that Norway doesn't fulfil its obligations to regard indigenous peoples' rights. Norway tries to portray itself as some human rights paradise, but that's very far from the truth.' Late June, the Nussir director invited representatives from the Fiettar reindeer herding district to an informal conversation over coffee. 'We have made several attempts to make contact, which have not worked well. We take our share of responsibility for that, but now we are starting with a blank slate,' he told Norwegian media NRK. The FRANCE 24 Observers team reached out to Blue Moon Metals for comment but did not receive a response. Mine's waste to be dumped in fjord The project has been described as 'one of the most environmentally damaging industrial projects in Norwegian history' by Friends of the Earth Norway. A primary concern is the 2 million tons of annual mine tailings slated for dumping into the fjord, a protected area for salmon. (Tailings are the residue from a mine after the ore has been extracted.) Norway is one of the few countries in the world to allow marine mine-waste dumping. Nussi r claims it will use a technique designed to make tailings "fall to the bottom instead of mixing with the sea", a method it says will limit "the spread of fine particles". However, the Institute of Marine Research, Norway's leading marine research organisation, has repeatedly warned against the consequences of marine mine-waste dumping. Jan Helge Fosså, a marine biologist at the institution, warned back in 2013: 'The bottom ecosystem in significant parts of the Repparfjord will be put out of action. (...) It will take years, perhaps decades, before certain fauna return.' Niillas stressed that the local community would also feel the effects: 'Norway is a sea nation with fishery as a very important industry, and they are putting all that industry in the whole region in danger by allowing that pollution into the field.' Fear of impact on reindeer herding The Sami have also warned that the project would threaten reindeer husbandry, a practice central to their culture. While the mine argues that operations will primarily be underground, reindeer herders in the nearby Fiettár grazing district remain concerned. Niillas explained: 'Blasting will scare the reindeer away from the area. This is also calving land in the early spring. The female reindeer take the calves off in those mountains. They have done so since time immemorial. But with the underground blasting, they will avoid the area. I t will be much more difficult to have reindeer husbandry when the calves have no secure area to grow up. 'This is considered wilderness, but it's our backyard, our livelihood' Niillas says the mine project poses an additional threat at a time when the district is already under 'heavy pressure" from tourism and energy projects. 'This area is one of the most affected by infrastructure on the Norwegian side of Sapmi [Editor's note: the Sami word for their territory]. We already have to deal with power lines, cabin areas, and power lines to the gas facility in Hammerfest that is now supposed to be electrified with wind power. And wind power is also very bad for reindeer herders because it occupies so much land, and the reindeer can't use those areas either. It's a misconception that wind power, especially here in the north, is green. Even though it's considered green energy, nature is destroyed. We don't have empty areas without anyone using them. This is considered wilderness, but it's our backyard, it's our livelihood, our basis for culture." 'Green colonialism' The project stands as a symbol of a contradiction of a country often pictured as an environmental leader. Proponents have promoted the project as a crucial step toward the green transition. In 2019, when issuing the permit, Norway's Trade and Industry Ministry argued that the "green shift depends on increased exploring of new metals that could be utilised in new technologies". Moreover, Nussir has been presenting its project as the first truly all-electric zero-emissions mine in the world, arguing that all machines and processes will be powered by renewable energy. The project has also been designated by the European Commission as one of 13 "strategically important" projects outside the EU for the extraction of critical raw materials. (Norway is not a member of the EU.) The Commission wrote that copper from the Nussir mine would "come with considerably less emissions than comparable sources". But Niillas says the transition is not without its costs: 'When the so-called green transition started to be a thing in the world, they jumped on that train: 'We will have the greenest mine in the world. We need this copper for the green transition.' They're using that as an excuse to open this mine, but it's all about money and profit. Regarding electrical mining, it will have to be powered by electricity, and we are back in the same trouble with the issues caused by wind power. It's a new wave of colonialism, it is 'green colonialism'. It's important for us to explain to the world how problematic this kind of transition really is for Indigenous peoples.' The courts have sided with the Sami on similar complaints in the past. In 2021, following years of protest, the Supreme Court of Norway ruled that the expropriation and operating permits issued for the construction of wind turbines in Norway's Fosen region violated the Sami's rights to practise their culture of reindeer husbandry. 'They have to think twice and not make the same mistakes they have been doing for centuries' Norway has recently taken significant steps toward reconciliation with the Sami people. In November 2024, the country apologised for historical injustices committed against them as part of its century-long 'Norwegianisation' policy. But Niillas says they 'have to be accountable for their words': 'The authorities have promised that now they will have a true process in regard to Indigenous people's rights. When they don't do that, I think they have to think twice and not make the same mistakes they have been making for centuries. Empty promises won't solve anything. We just have to see if Norway's ready to do that or if they are still going forward with the same tr i cks they have been doing since they came to Sapmi since colonisation started.' In March 2025, a UN report wrote that 'adverse impacts of development projects on the Sami people were consistently highlighted' in discussions with the community, including a 'lack of comprehensive implementation of the right to free, prior and informed consent' and of their rights 'to lands, territories, and resources'. A 2025 Amnesty report also warned that Finland's, Sweden's, and Norway's current legislation 'lacked safeguards obligating decisionmakers to obtain free, prior and informed consent from Sami representative institutions before initiating land use projects, such as wind power and mining.'
France 24
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Trump says to name new labor statistics chief this week
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Fashion Network
7 hours ago
- Fashion Network
Italian regulator hits Shein with 1 million euro greenwashing fine
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