German Finance Minister Tells Protesting Farmers He Can’t Make Promises About Budget
There are similar demonstrations by angry farmers in Romania, as well as protests planned in Poland and Bulgaria.
A few weeks ago, German farmers organized a massive protest against the government’s plans to cut diesel subsidies and tax breaks for agricultural vehicles next year as part of Berlin’s 2024 austerity measures.
The protests continued through Monday, centering on the government district in Berlin.
An estimated 30,000 protesters, including farmers supported by a wide range of representatives from other industries from fishing to gastronomy to logistics, blocked the streets around the government quarter on Monday with their vehicles, including lorries and forklift trucks, and even children’s toy tractors.
Joachim Rukwied, the president of the German farmers’ union, called on the government to scrap its plans to phase out fuel subsidies, warning that many farmers would be driven to bankruptcy by the decision.
“The government has the ability to change this,” he told thousands of protesters gathered at the Brandenburg Gate, adding: “This much is too much. Take back the proposals.” As soon as the government signalled it was prepared to backtrack, Rukwied promised, “the tractors will be withdrawn”.
The government has already given concessions, and Monday’s event is reportedly the climax of this series of demonstrations.
They are not satisfied with concessions the government has already made. On January 4, it watered down its original plan, saying that a car tax exemption for farming vehicles would be retained and the cuts in the diesel tax breaks would be staggered over three years.
The chairman of the German Farmers’ Association, Joachim Rukwied, said: “Take back the proposed tax increases, then we’ll pull back.”
He said the demonstration sent a message to politicians that “too much is too much”.
“We are an important part of Germany – please don’t forget that,” he said.
Germany’s Finance Minister Christian Lindner took to the stage in Berlin to inform the farmers and their supporters that there was no money for further subsidies. His message proved unpopular with the crowd.
“I can’t promise you more state aid from the federal budget,” Lindner told the crowd from a chilly stage in front of the Brandenburg Gate. “But we can fight together for you to enjoy more freedom and respect for your work.”
…Facing a backlash, the government has already said it would maintain a tax rebate on new agricultural vehicles and spread the scrapping of the agricultural diesel subsidy over several years.
But farmers, with the vocal backing of the opposition conservatives and the far-right, say that is not enough.
“I have respect for every politician who is prepared to come to us,” said Farmers’ Union head Joachim Rukwied, who at one moment had to take the microphone from Lindner and beg the crowd to stop jeering for long enough to listen to him.
“The finance minister is here,” he said. “It makes no sense to boo him.”
Of course, in it’s reporting, the media continues to gin up fears about the “far-right” pouncing.
Multiple other protests are planned across the country, which come as Scholz’s coalition struggles to fix a budget crisis and official data showed Germany’s economy shrank last year for the first time since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Now, many are warning that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is capitalizing on the chaos for its own political gain.
German farmers aren’t the only European agriculturalists to be protesting, either. There are similar demonstrations in Romania, as well as protests planned in Poland and Bulgaria.
Apparently, such policies are helping Ukraine more than the nation’s farmers.
Romanian farmers and truckers resumed protests Monday after negotiations with the government failed Sunday, mirroring similar demonstrations in Germany. Their complaints are centered on subsidies and support that is suppose to be provided by their respective governments elated to policies supporting Ukraine.
The protests, which began on January 10, have disrupted traffic in several cities, including the capital Bucharest, as farmers and truckers air grievances ranging from high taxes to delayed compensation payments.
…
In Poland, farmers and truckers have been blocking border crossings with Ukraine since November, complaining of “unfair competition” from their Ukrainian counterparts and the loosening of European Union access rules for Ukrainian companies.Polish farmers lifted their border blockade last week but on Monday announced plans for a nationwide demonstration later this month. Farmers in Bulgaria have announced similar plans.
Helpful hint: When your policies hurt the people bringing food to your table, perhaps it is time to readjust your priorities.
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Comments
The only threat from the “far right” is the exposure of the fraud.
I think of Viceroy cigarettes, choosing fighting over switching.
So, the government promised a slow screwing instead of a quick one.
They should take a cue from the Dutch farmers and get out the liquid manure cannons.
We Need Farmers. We don’t need the WEF.
It seems that farmers are well organized, now they should band together, set prices higher, maybe doubling what the cuts will cost them. Give consumers a glimpse of the impact on what they will pay.
For us to ENJOY more freedom? For you to RESPECT us a little more?
Oh, okay then, we will go home now.
Who says Germans have no sense of humor?
You boys in government making promises to farmers….don’t do that with your mouths full. It’s nice to see ignored elements in Europe stirring to life against corrupt governments and their puppeteers. Anyone who is not approved of doing any protesting is labeled far right or most amusingly, hard right. Waiting for the flaccid right to be labeled..
The cuts have nothing to do with financial austerity and everything to do with green wokism.
Yeah, the “aid” is just not taxing diesel used for agriculture. The government is starting with the assumption you owe them everything, and what they don’t tax away is “assistance”.
But they can make promises to support and arm Ukraine.
And provide for all of the illegals who have flooded in.
They should drive their tractors to Davos.
They should drive their manure spreaders to Davos.
Although, given the people who go there, I’m not sure anyone would notice.
Let the idiots in Davos eat bugs
The farmers should give the country a taste of what happens when you mess with the food. Starvation.
The farmers should just destroy their crops in protest.
That should wake everyone up.
And Germany has plenty of money. It’s wasting it on hundreds of thousands or millions of so called refugees.
Wow this whole eff Russia and their well grounded historical fear of encroachment to support a proxy war in Ukraine that led to cheap fuel being cut off, which is leading to massive turmoil in German industrial sectors, which led to less forecast revenue and immediate term higher outlays, which led to budget constraints isn’t quite as easy and simple as many thought it would be.
Have you bothered reading anything about this? It’s not about high prices, but about the government imposing fuel taxes on farmers, who used to be exempt for fuel used in agriculture. It’s a tax increase, targeting farmers, and the way the politicians are talking about is that they are owed the money and not collecting it was a “gift”.
1. The German govt is looking for more revenue.
2. The reasons they need more revenue are in part as I outlined above
Thus the proposed elimination for Farmers of their current waiver on fuel used for AG and tax breaks on AG equipment.
As to gov’t attitude towards other peoples money… No shit. That’s how all gov’t views it. Any sort of tax break is always viewed as a form of ‘benevolence’. They view our $ as theirs and we should be grateful they let us retain any of it.
“German Finance Minister Tells Protesting Farmers He Can’t Make Promises About Budget”
“It’s just as well, Meinherr, as we also can make no promises about future traffic congestion.”
I wonder why MSNBC and CNN haven’t talked about these protests? Weird.
The finance minister is a weasel. He should have said that he was going to do everything possible to help them. Instead he is throwing them to to the environmentallly ill scum.