The farmers’ reception committee for FDP leader and Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner and hundreds of liberals at the party’s traditional Epiphany meeting in Stuttgart is significantly smaller and, above all, more civilized than the riot that Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck was recently confronted with at the ferry pier in Schlüttsiel. With a respectful distance prescribed by the police, separated from the State Opera by the Eckensee, the farmers’ association drove in three tractors and mobilized dozens of members in orange high-visibility vests.
“We’re not quiet at all, because we think your politics are so bad…” is what the posters say, addressed to the traffic light government. An hour before the start of the Free Democrats’ rally, Michael Theurer comes to the farmers as FDP state chairman of the hosts in Stuttgart. The abolition of the tax relief for agricultural diesel is a competitive disadvantage in Europe, complain the farmers who have already achieved partial success; The federal government is abandoning the planned abolition of the exemption of agricultural vehicles from motor vehicle tax.
Coming to a liberal with competitive arguments may be more successful than simply complaining about the abolition of subsidies. Theurer, who is also Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Transport, says that he knows that farmers are very worried, especially in Baden-Württemberg, where small family businesses dominate. For them, cuts have a direct impact on their income. But he doesn’t hold out much hope that the tax privileges for agricultural diesel will be retained.
And Christian Lindner will also defend the traffic light government’s plans later in the opera: “Especially an industry that is so heavily subsidized at European and national level will not be able to avoid every contribution to consolidation.” Agriculture is not an industry like any other, because it has something to do with basic supplies. However, farmers would benefit from the reduction in electricity tax and also from funding for the animal-friendly conversion of stables. Anyone who wants new subsidies “must also do without old ones,” he warned.
At the same time, he appeals to farmers not to allow themselves to be “infiltrated and exploited”. The “dangerous situation” into which Robert Habeck was brought was “completely unacceptable.” “You’ve lost your way, please turn back,” shouted Lindner. Peaceful protest must preserve the framework of the democratic order. “Breach of the peace, coercion, damage to property – these are cases for the public prosecutor.”
The FDP leader then classifies the farmers’ protests as part of the increasing polarization of society. He states that what is depressing the mood in the country are the epochal changes. “You can’t escape these realities, you have to face them,” says Lindner, referring to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and its economic consequences, the war in the Gaza Strip after Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel, but also the budget situation and the high interest rates.
Leading liberals at the Epiphany meeting in Stuttgart.
(Photo: IMAGO/IMAGO/Political-Moments)
He sometimes has the impression that the “lust for ruin” is spreading. He calls out the talk about Germany as the sick man of Europe, “I can hardly stand it anymore,” to the FDP supporters, and then paraphrases Friedrich Nietzsche: If you look into the abyss for too long, the abyss will also look back into it – which can definitely be related to the party situation. In surveys for the three state elections in the fall in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg, the Liberals are below the five percent hurdle – in some cases significantly. According to current surveys, the FDP would also have to fear re-entry into the Bundestag. In a recent member survey, only a slim majority of participants were in favor of continuing government work in the traffic lights.
“The situation is serious,” admits Lindner, and also that the federal government is making mistakes. There remains a lot of work. Linder teases that the situation will not improve by muddling through “we can do it” or by trying to get things right, just as much as by uncritically trusting that the state will sort it out. This refers to the CDU under Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as the SPD under Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Greens.
Conversely, there is no threat of a fall into the abyss; Germany is a strong country and the economy has substance. There is “a third way between praying for health and painting doom: face the realities and do something,” says Lindner, and commits the entire party to this course. There are many people who are fed up with discontent and are waiting for a new departure. “It is up to us to infect them with a liberal thirst for action,” he shouts. Departure, change, a change in mood is a “task for each of us”.
He outlines the contribution he wants to make with the FDP in the federal government in five points: The country needs a dynamization package for the economy. As decided by the cabinet in Meseberg, bureaucracy must be reduced. That alone would bring three billion euros in relief. More flexibility and speed must be possible when awarding public contracts. The labor market must become more flexible; He even praises SPD Labor Minister Hubertus Heil, who wants to get Ukrainians into employment more quickly and also wants to impose sanctions on citizens’ benefits.
The FDP leader is also calling for a “market economy climate protection law,” which is unlikely to be met with much approval from the Greens. In Germany, capital must also be mobilized for investments in future technologies, as is also happening in France. And the growth opportunities law blocked by the Union must come; the traffic light must negotiate this with CDU party and parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz. However, he first has to clarify which of the sometimes contradictory changes the Bundestag group and the Union Prime Minister actually want.
If all of this succeeds and the economy prospers again, then there will be money for social or ecological projects again, says Linder, addressing the coalition partners. There will be no tax increases, and he will not take the constitutional risks of a renewed suspension of the debt brake, such as that demanded by SPD parliamentary group leader Mützenich. At the same time, he assured those affected by the current floods of solidarity.
The FDP wants to achieve a turnaround with the European elections at the latest. The designated top candidate Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann is already cheered as she enters the stage. The liberals applauded her passionate plea for continued support for Ukraine. “2024 must not be a year of crisis,” Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai had previously demanded, “it must be a year of success where we emerge from the crisis.” Whether this will be successful will become clear on June 9th, when Germany elects its representatives to the European Parliament.