In view of the mass protests by farmers, pressure is also growing within his own party on Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to completely reverse the planned subsidy cuts for the agricultural sector. “The farmers are pissed off, and rightly so,” said Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD). South German newspaper. “You can’t cut two funding bases overnight without talking to each other first. That’s why the measures have to be withdrawn.” But Scholz has blocked this so far.
Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil, Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke and Saarland Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger also opposed their party colleague Scholz on Monday, which is unusual and increases the pressure for corrections.
The correction already announced by Scholz, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), according to which the vehicle tax exemption for agricultural machinery will not be affected, is not enough for the critics in the SPD – because the tax subsidies for agricultural diesel continue should be abolished, even if only gradually.
Scholz: The agricultural cuts will come
“The genie is out of the bottle,” said Weil on ZDF. “Especially for smaller companies, the loss of agricultural diesel – even if it drags on for three years – is really a serious burden.” That’s why his urgent recommendation to the federal government is to “clear the air at this point.” It would be good if this conflict were ended.
However, Chancellor Scholz wants to stick to the traffic light coalition’s cuts plans despite farmers’ protests. “The federal government stands by it,” he said on Monday in the Chancellery. When it comes to reducing subsidies, there are always voices that say, “but not this one.” The project remains and should be voted on in the Bundestag “in a very short time.”
On Monday, the federal government launched the gradual phase-out of agricultural diesel and other plans such as a higher ticket tax in air traffic from May. For this purpose, formulation aids for the coalition factions were decided on for implementation in the Bundestag. The measures are intended to close billions in holes in the budget that opened up after the unconstitutional reallocation of unused Corona funds into a climate and transformation fund and to finance further projects in this area. The SPD parliamentary group warned that if they gave in to the farmers, other professional groups would take to the streets next.
Tractor blockades across the country – truck drivers are also joining in protests
Thousands of farmers blocked highway and road access roads across the country with their tractors on Monday. In addition, long tractor columns formed in many cities. Many citizens did not come to work, and school lessons were also canceled in some places. As a rule, the protests remained peaceful, but in Lower Saxony one demonstrator was hit and injured. In Dresden, right-wing extremist groups tried to hijack the protests and break through police barriers. Production also had to be stopped at the VW plant in Emden because employees could no longer come to work. In many places, the farmers received support from truck drivers, who in turn protested against the truck toll that had increased because of the CO₂ price; Craftsmen, fishermen and other groups also expressed solidarity.
Banners called for an end to the traffic light coalition. “We’ll put them aside” or “They don’t sow. They don’t reap. But they know everything better” were written on posters by farmers who opposed the austerity plans of the SPD, Greens and FDP.
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), who was recently unable to leave a ferry at the Schlüttsiel pier as planned when returning from a North Sea vacation because of angry demonstrators, warned in a video message that the protests could be hijacked by radical groups. “Calls are circulating with fantasies of subversion. Extremist groups are forming, ethnic-nationalist symbols are openly displayed. It is becoming clear that something has slipped in recent years, which is delimiting legitimate democratic protest and freedom of expression,” emphasized Habeck. Society is experiencing upheaval; Wars and crises as well as high inflation led to uncertainty. “We must not allow extremists to hijack this uncertainty. We must not be blind. Subversive fantasies mean nothing other than wanting to destroy our democratic state,” said Habeck. “When gallows hang on tractors, when tractor convoys drive to private houses, then a limit has been crossed.”
The traffic light coalition also points to the sometimes good yield and earnings situation for many farmers in recent years. Farmers President Joachim Rukwied, on the other hand, said during a visit to the closed meeting of the CSU Bundestag members in Seeon Monastery that the traffic light cuts plans had now “been the last straw”. They would also have to be completely withdrawn from agricultural diesel, otherwise it would be “dying in installments”. The farmers are already being severely affected by other cuts and new requirements, for example in animal husbandry.