After major actions at the start of a nationwide week of protests, farmers are continuing to put pressure on politicians to cut costs. A rally speaker from Berlin is expected in Baden-Württemberg on Wednesday.
With tractor rides and other protests, farmers also mobilized in several regions of Germany on Tuesday against the dismantling of tax breaks for agricultural diesel. On the second day of a nationwide week of action, there were some traffic obstructions due to columns of agricultural vehicles.
This Wednesday, Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) is also expected to speak at a rally in Ellwangen, Baden-Württemberg. Despite the protests that began on Monday, the federal government is sticking to its already weakened plans for subsidy cuts.
Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann was surprised that farmers had not reacted to the concessions from Berlin. “It’s an unusual step that the federal government has scaled back its plans to a very significant extent,” said the Green politician in Stuttgart. He spoke of a “significant mitigation”. Compromises had to be made. Kretschmann does not believe that demands for a complete reversal of the cuts will be met. “I don’t see that the federal government will take any further steps.”
As part of savings in the 2024 federal budget, the preferential treatment for agricultural diesel that has existed for more than 70 years is to be gradually abolished. So far, companies have been able to get a partial refund of the energy tax – with a reimbursement of 21.48 cents per liter. Originally, the traffic light coalition wanted to cancel the aid completely immediately. Now there will be a phase-out over three years. The federal government had already withdrawn a planned deletion of the vehicle tax exemption for farmers last week.
After protests with thousands of participants and tractors on Monday, there were smaller actions on Tuesday. There were restrictions in the morning in the Ulm area and in the Alb-Donau district. In Lower Bavaria, according to the police, around 20 tractors caused disruptions near the Philippsreut border crossing with the Czech Republic. There were also protests in Saxony, farmers occupied junctions on Autobahn 72. In Schleswig-Holstein, tractor parades drove near Lübeck, among other places. There were also further protests in Lower Saxony and Brandenburg.
After the week of action, the German Farmers’ Association is planning a major rally in Berlin on January 15th. The association demands that cuts in agricultural diesel also have to be taken off the table. Several agricultural organizations and politicians had clearly spoken out against possible capture of protests. Attempts by some right-wing extremists to build a bridge to the protesting farmers through expressions of solidarity or their own actions were initially unsuccessful, according to security circles.
Source: Stern
