Vajon mekkora csapást mérnek Oroszországra az uniós műtrágyavámok?
Az Oroszországtól való gazdasági függőségének csökkentése érdekében az EU magasabb vámokat vetett ki a műtrágyákra és a mezőgazdasági termékekre. A cél az orosz bevételek csökkentése, de ez hatással lehet az uniós élelmiszerárakra is, ami aggasztja a gazdákat.
00:00The EU continues to reduce its economic dependence on Russia.
00:18Higher tariffs are expected to be applied to fertilizers and some agricultural products.
00:23The regulation also aims to reduce Russia's economic revenues that can lead to rising food prices in the EU, which is a concern for farmers.
00:34A dilemma that we will discuss in this week's EU Decoded.
00:37The tariffs will apply to products from Russia and its neighboring ally Belarus, which has facilitated the military action against Ukraine.
00:46Russia supplies 25% of the EU's nitrogen fertilizers worth 1.3 billion euros per year.
00:52From July 1st, these fertilizers will be subject to tariffs ranging from 6.5% this year to levels close to 100% by 2028.
01:03In addition, 50% tariffs will be imposed on agri-food products from both countries, such as meat, dairy, fruit and vegetables.
01:12European fertilizer producers are happy to have a bigger market share.
01:17However, farmers are worried that the prices of these products will increase, since Russia is a major global producer and sells them at cheaper prices.
01:26Let's hear what some Europeans think about this issue.
01:30According to this issue, it is important that the production will be very limited.
01:37Now, we are looking for other solutions. We are looking for organic work.
01:41We are looking for agricultural products and such.
01:43So if the military measures are not going to result, the economic measures will have to enter in function.
01:52It's a prejudice for all the parts, for the Russia that can't put fertilizers,
01:59for the European people who need fertilizers and they don't have experience to use.
02:04It's going to be a compensation, because who can't be the agricultor and the consumer final
02:10is going to be in charge.
02:12Euronews reporter Gerardo Fortuna will help us understand the impacts of these measures.
02:18The US imposed barriers on imports of Russian goods since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
02:26Why now the focus on fertilizers?
02:29There's a strong moral and strategical rationale.
02:33Russia imposes 23.5% export tax on fertilizers,
02:40which means that by buying these products, the EU is indirectly financing the war in Ukraine.
02:48And of course, by imposing tariffs now, the main goal is to make it unattractive for Russians to export these products,
02:55but also to European farmers to buy these products.
02:58European fertilizers sector welcomed the moves, saying that they have been badly hit since the war.
03:06What is at stake for the domestic sector in terms of producing fertilizers?
03:12The European fertilizers manufacturers are deeply concerned about the Russian imports because, of course, they are cheaper,
03:20particularly the nitrogen-based ones.
03:22And despite the war, there has been an increase of imports from Russia.
03:27There's also an environmental aspect because the production of fertilizers has roughly half of the carbon intensity of the Russian manufacturing of fertilizers.
03:39So by importing these fertilizers from Russia, we also drive emissions up.
03:43On the other hand, farmers are worried. Why are they so worried?
03:48And can the European Commission assume some mitigation measures for them?
03:52You have to balance the geostrategic interests with the real things that farmers are suffering.
04:00Of course, by imposing tariffs, you distort the market and you eventually drive prices up.
04:06There are some mitigation measures.
04:08At the moment, they are not considered good enough by European farmers to cope with the expected increase of prices.
04:17The most likely scenario is that farmers will be squeezed by the increase in production costs
04:23and the impossibility to raise the final price for consumers.
04:29Europe remains highly import-dependent.
04:32For nitrogen fertilizers, imports accounts for 32% of demand.
04:37To reduce the risk of price spikes, the EU could reduce tariffs on other fertilizer suppliers such as the U.S. and countries in North Africa and Central Asia.
04:46Finally, the tariffs will not affect the transit of fertilizers and agri-food exports from Russia and Belarus to third countries
04:53in order to avoid disruption of supplies, especially to developing countries.
04:58Our guest is MEP Enese Vaidere from Center-Right EPP Group and rapporteur on this regulation.
05:06Will the EU fertilizers producers have enough time to ramp up their production in order to meet demand and to avoid price spike of these products?
05:18You know, our fertilizers producers in European Union already now have lost a lot of their plants.
05:27They stopped their activities due to these cheap imports from Russia.
05:31And now, as we calculated, there's at least 3 million tons spare capacity over the 8 million tons which has been exported to other countries.
05:44If something happens, we can also turn to another mitigation sources, for example, to lift some export and import duties from other countries.
05:56Farmers here rising food prices in terms of their own production. So can this be avoided or offset somehow?
06:07Commission is obliged to monitor every month prices because prices, this is also our interest.
06:14You, me, you are paying for agricultural products and if the prices rise, we will be paying more.
06:21So, Commission is obliged to monitor every month and to do something if this price increase will be dramatic.
06:31This could be subsidies or other types of supplies?
06:33Could be subsidies. From the beginning of the war already, if I am not mistaken, some 500 billion euros have been spent already to help the farmers.
06:46Commission knows what to do.
06:48The U.S. recently decided to cut all Russian fuel imports by 2028.
06:55Should the U.S. think about other ways in order to choke Russia's economy?
07:01You know, in my eyes, we have to do much more.
07:06And I am enthusiastic and I provided also the plan for European Commission how to confiscate the sources of Russian assets, which are mostly in Belgium's bank.
07:19Now we can use for Ukraine only profit from these assets, but confiscation of these assets could help Ukraine more.
07:26Wonderful. Thank you very much, Madam.
07:28Gas is an essential ingredient for fertilizer production, so the EU is indirectly targeting this Russian asset as well.
07:38However, Russia is the world's largest producer of fertilizers, with its main markets being Brazil, India, the U.S., China and Indonesia.
07:47Even so, for the EU, these are not only economic imperatives, but also ethical ones, given the war in Ukraine.
07:58The power of the system iseeee solution.
08:00The human itself is the end.
08:01The human itself is the end of the world.
08:03The human itself is the middle of Ukraine.
08:04The cure is the celestializing that flows from each other.
08:08The human itself, whether it is infinite, and not only cultural movement,
08:09the human itself creates the light of its own energy.
08:11The human itself also changes the world's largest nets and its own energy.
08:12The human itself is also the human itself.
08:15The human itself begins to create a room of contaminating the land and its own energy to thenuise framework,
