Whistles, but also applause: Agriculture Minister Özdemir addressed the farmers’ dissatisfaction at a rally. He has sometimes successfully campaigned for the cuts to be reversed. At the same time, he warned of social division.
Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir defended his agricultural policy at a farmers’ rally in Ellwangen, Baden-Württemberg. He emphasized that as soon as the subsidy cuts were announced by the traffic light leaders, he campaigned for a withdrawal. As a specialist minister, he was not included. “If this had been the case, the decisions would not have been made,” he said.
In the future, something like this should not be decided at the green table. The professional association must also be involved. “It cannot be the case that a profession is put under undue strain, especially without it being heard first,” said Özdemir. That’s why he said he couldn’t support the decisions. It has now been achieved that one of the two measures has been completely withdrawn.
“The vehicle tax exemption remains, the green sticker remains, after all we have already achieved that,” said Özdemir. The subsidies for agricultural diesel would not be abolished all at once, but over three years. “It’s not nothing,” the minister emphasized. “I’ve already done something, I’ve already achieved something.”
Call for mutual understanding
During the visit, the minister felt the farmers’ dissatisfaction. First he spoke to more than 700 participants in the town hall, then the crowd asked him to ask questions outside. Özdemir complied. His words were accompanied by boos and whistles. According to the police, there were around 600 tractors as well as 2,500 farmers and interested parties on the street along the town hall.
Özdemir received applause for his call for greater appreciation and mutual understanding in the debate. In the past, before he took office as Federal Agriculture Minister, a policy had been made “that meant cheap for export – and not quality,” he said. In addition, the “four big ones” divided the food retail business among themselves. “Were they all Greens? Was it all me?” asked the minister, referring to the agricultural policy of the past decades and called for “a little more fairness”. “Let’s tackle this together,” he said. “This is the only way we will be successful.”
Özdemir emphasized that there must be an appropriate price for “good products”. If there are political requirements for agriculture – such as more animal welfare or more biodiversity – then politicians must also provide the financial resources for this. In addition, the position of farmers in the value chain must be strengthened. Özdemir also brought up the development of alternatives to agricultural diesel.
“More animal protection needs to be funded”
He called for fundamental discussions about the role of agriculture. “We have a massive problem when the interests of consumers and agriculture diverge,” he warned. “Consumers want more animal welfare, more climate protection, more environmental and biodiversity – and that’s right. But they don’t shop like that, even if they could afford it.”
It cannot be the case that the farmer pays the bill for the consumers’ wishes. “If, for example, we want more animal protection in stables, this has to be financed, for example through an animal welfare tax. That would mean a moderate burden on meat – a few cents per kilo. The money would benefit agriculture.”
Warning about “conditions like in the USA”
In an interview, the minister had previously warned of a deep division in German society in view of the protests. “People in rural areas have the feeling of being left behind. They worry that they will be left behind in politics that is increasingly dominated by city dwellers,” he told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “This is a dangerous divide that can lead to conditions like those in the USA: People no longer talk to each other, they no longer believe each other and they accuse each other of all the evil in the world.” Özdemir warned:
We must not cross the threshold that America crossed with Donald Trump. Our goal must be to hold the country together in the middle.
As part of savings in the 2024 federal budget, the preferential treatment for agricultural diesel 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.