Business 15 July 2026

Fertiliser prices went through the roof, so Brussels just handed Portugal €162 million

The EU Council is letting Portugal move up to €162.2 million into direct payments for farmers squeezed by fertiliser costs. Now Lisbon has until the end of August to work out what to do with it.

Portugal has just won €162.2 million of room to put money straight into farmers’ pockets. It isn’t new money falling from the sky — it’s permission to move what already exists, and in Brussels that is usually worth nearly as much.

The Council of the European Union approved a regulation letting member states pull funds from other parts of their CAP strategic plan, such as rural development, and redirect them into the direct payments that land in producers’ accounts every year. Portugal’s ceiling for that transfer is €162.2 million.

But why is the EU getting involved in fertiliser prices at all?

Because fertiliser costs exploded for reasons that have nothing to do with farming — the energy bill and geopolitics did that — and the invoice landed on farms with no way to pass it down the chain. It’s the same mechanism pushing Portuguese inflation towards 3%: energy climbs, and everything that leans on energy climbs behind it.

There’s also a new liquidity scheme, co-financeable up to 65% by the EAFRD, with national governments allowed to top it up with their own money to 200% of that amount. In plain English: if a country wants to stretch the support, it can.

And when does Portugal have to make the call?

By the end of August. The call on what to do with the €162 million — reinforce direct payments or steer the headroom into other CAP areas — sits with Agriculture and Sea Minister José Manuel Fernandes. It’s a real trade-off: direct payments relieve pressure now; rural development relieves it later.

The speed is worth noticing, because in Brussels speed is a story in itself. The Commission tabled the proposal on 12 June, the European Parliament passed it on 7 July by 576 votes to 62 with 15 abstentions, and the Council closed the file this week. Under a month from paper to final decision — the scheme’s details sit on the European Commission’s agriculture portal.

Brussels moving fast when it suits. We’ll take the money and the precedent.

By Beatriz Mota

Image: Mcaldeira / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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