Ampel invites farmers’ associations to discussions

The traffic light faction leaders have invited the farmers’ associations to a discussion next Monday. While farmers continue the protests today, a proposal for resolving the conflict comes from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The chairmen of the three traffic light factions in the Bundestag have invited the boards of agricultural associations to a discussion on Monday.

According to information from the dpa news agency, a corresponding letter from parliamentary group leaders Rolf Mützenich (SPD), Britta Haßelmann (Greens) and Christian Dürr (FDP) was sent on Wednesday. The conversation should therefore be about the economic prospects for agricultural businesses.

Conversation at the highlight of the week of action

The traffic light government has triggered a storm of protest from farmers with its plans to abolish tax breaks for agricultural diesel. A week of action is currently underway, the highlight of which will be a large demonstration in Berlin next Monday (January 15th). The conversation with the parliamentary group leaders will also take place on this day.

Protests started again today. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example, tractors blocked several motorway entrances, and convoys of agricultural vehicles also caused disruptions. Protests were also planned in Frankfurt am Main, Hanover, Karlsruhe and Cottbus, where Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is expected to open a new railway factory. On the sidelines of the event he wants to meet with representatives of the state farmers’ association.

Compromise proposal from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Meanwhile, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Agriculture Minister Till Backhaus, together with representatives of the state’s farmers and fishermen’s associations, presented a compromise paper to end the nationwide farmers’ protests. Both sides are promoting an entry into alternative fuels supported by the federal government. The switch to renewable energies in agriculture takes time and a perspective, said Backhaus. That’s why the minister doesn’t want to end the subsidy cuts for agricultural diesel until after 2027; before then there should only be a ten percent cut.

At the same time, the group called for incentives to switch to alternative fuels such as biogas or biodiesel. Alternative savings options for the federal budget are also mentioned. According to Backhaus, these include, among other things, the planned subsidies for more animal-friendly pigsties or the company car privilege for hybrid vehicles.

Federal Government takes back some cuts

The federal government is no longer planning to abolish the tax break for agricultural diesel that has existed for more than 70 years in one fell swoop, but rather to phase it out gradually over three years. The coalition has already completely withdrawn a planned deletion of the vehicle tax exemption for farmers. The farmers’ association has described the corrections made so far as insufficient. The Bundestag still has to approve the plans.

Farmers demand a solution in parliament to end the diesel protests

In view of the ongoing demonstrations, the farmers’ association is pushing for a solution in parliament. “Now it is up to the federal government and the parliamentary groups in the German Bundestag to end these protests,” said farmers’ president Joachim Rukwied. “A lazy compromise like the one currently on the table cannot be a solution – because it won’t get a tractor off the road.”

Rukwied emphasized: “We call on the parliamentary groups to discuss intensively how the competitiveness of agriculture can be maintained and how the protests can be ended.”

Haseloff calls for the Chancellor to dialogue with farmers

Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff has meanwhile spoken out in favor of talks in the Chancellery between the federal government and the farmers’ associations. In an interview with the MDR the CDU politician emphasized his support for the ongoing protests by farmers against the federal government’s planned savings.

Although the federal government has already reversed some of the cuts to farmers, Haseloff believes it is essential that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) personally enters into dialogue with the farmers’ associations. “There must now be an invitation to the Chancellery and we must talk to each other there, as was the case in other contexts when there was a conference there on the automotive industry, chemistry and so on. The other sectors have also experienced this and this offer should be made now,” said the Prime Minister.

A lot has accumulated in agriculture in recent years and perhaps even decades. The industry has had to cope with numerous changes, pressure, certifications and bureaucratic challenges.