The European Commission kept its carbon border tax unchanged in a fertiliser plan announced on Tuesday meant to support struggling farmers, despite complaints that carbon pricing is also contributing prices amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Fertiliser producers argue that the bloc's carbon pricing rules at the border protect the European industry from cheaper imports produced under weaker environmental rules, since the rules oblige EU exporters to pay for the pollution linked to their production. But farmers fear they are indirectly paying the bill through higher fertiliser costs.