The issue of food security has been “criminally neglected” by the European Union amid the ongoing fertiliser shortage, an MEP has claimed.
Dr Sylvia Limmer, a European parliamentarian for the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), has accused the EU of completely mishandling food security in the block, describing the issue as being “criminally neglected” by the union.
Limmer’s statement comes ahead of a debate on the ongoing fertiliser shortage ravaging the bloc’s farmers which is due to take place in parliament on Thursday, with many MEPs seemingly unhappy with how the European Commission is handling the crisis.
In a statement seen by Breitbart Europe, Limmer described the continued centralisation of powers in Europe as being partly responsible for the current shortage, arguing that a devolution of powers to nation-states and communities has traditionally been the best way to guarantee effective agricultural policy.
“The decades-long shift in agricultural policy from nation-states to the EU is undermining our food security and driving up food prices,” Limmer said.
“While years ago every state paid attention to the highest possible degree of self-sufficiency for itself and its citizens, the EU – of course – criminally neglected this,” she continued, arguing that political entities “closer to the citizens” will be able to respond better to local needs than the cumbersome EU.
Such an arrangement, the AfD politician argues, would be for the benefit of both the end consumer and European farmers, with both groups currently struggling to cope with the high levels of inflation currently plaguing the continent.
Since Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU has seen significant problems with its supply of fertiliser, with much of the supply — as well as the raw materials needed to produce the resource — originating in the two nations now engaged in active conflict.
The European Commission has made attempts to get on top of the problem, with the bloc most recently publishing a public communication discussing its future plans to secure supply in November last year.
However, many in the bloc’s parliament do not seem to be satisfied with the communication, with a debate in Strasbourg on Thursday set to hear a number of MEPs voice their concern regarding the crisis.
The debate was prompted by an oral question proposed by Norbert Lins MEP to the Commission on behalf of the bloc’s agriculture and rural development committee, which is seemingly unhappy with the extent of the solutions outlined by the senior Eurocrats.
“The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development is of the opinion that the communication and the measures announced can only be a first step,” the question put to the commission reads, with Lins requesting that the body clarifies what further measures it is willing to implement in order to alleviate the crisis affecting many farmers in Europe.
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