German farmers halt protests to negotiate with government

As farmers’ protests in Germany came to a temporary halt after weeks of rocking the country over planned subsidy cuts, Farmers’ Association President Joachim Rukwied said he is pushing for negotiations with the federal government but stressed he wanted results by Thursday (18 January) evening.

The protests, which have blocked roads since the start of the new year, culminated in front of the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin on Monday. With an estimated 30,000 protesters and well over 5,000 tractors, the expectations of the organisers and the authorities were far exceeded.

But “the time for talks has come”, Rukwied told a press conference following the talks with the parliamentary groups of Germany’s three-way coalition government.

Now would be the time to end the protests, at least for the coming days, approach MPs and hold solution-oriented talks, Rukwied said, adding the farmers would now “keep a low profile” to signal their willingness to talk.

Just before Christmas, the German government had to make cuts to plug a €17 billion gap in the budget after the Constitutional Court declared the proposed budget unconstitutional. To cut expenses, the government also decided to cut some subsidies for farmers.

However, because this was met with protests, the government already backpedalled on some of the announced measures like the cancellation of the motor vehicle tax exemption – which it withdrew – and the agricultural fuel subsidy – which it said it would now reduce gradually rather than immediately.

However, this was not enough for farmers, so the German Farmers’ Association (DBV) stuck to its announced protests, which have now reached their final climax in Berlin.

While the last speeches were still being made in front of the Brandenburger Tor, representatives of the farmers’ organisations met with the leaders of the parliamentary groups of the federal government to discuss their respective positions.

Following the discussions, the associations said there had been good proposals, but there was no agreement on the agricultural fuel subsidy.

However, the government sees little room for manoeuvre regarding tax breaks on diesel fuel for farmers, as Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) indicated during his guest appearance in front of the Brandenburger Tor.

Amidst a barrage of protest calls, Lindner said he could not go back on the subsidy cuts because “everyone has to do their bit”.

“Agriculture is financed by Brussels and Berlin with €9 billion annually. […] As the finance minister, I must, therefore, always ask: What funds are necessary, and what alternatives are there?”

He said his focus was instead on other areas, such as reducing bureaucracy.

Another proposal came from Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens), who proposed introducing a levy on meat and animal products, saying this could benefit farmers for the animal-friendly conversion of stables.

However, for Rukwied, subsidies on fuel for farmers remain the crux of the current debate.

“The main issue now is this tax increase [the abolition of the agricultural fuel subsidy]. It has to be dropped,” he stressed in front of journalists.

But in front of protestors on Monday, Lindner suggested the issue is more wide-reaching. “You can’t tell me you are here because of agricultural fuel. Something has been building up for years and decades,” he said.

Rukwied, for his part, gave the government a specific ultimatum.

“We need a result by Thursday evening”, he said – referring to the day the budget adjustment meeting to approve the government’s savings proposal is set to take place.

[Edited by Oliver Noyan and Angelo Di Mambro]

Read more with Euractiv

Agrifood brief: Waiting for dialogue to happen

The Brussels agri-bubble is on hold, in a kind of suspended animation. As business picks up after the winter holidays, the question on everyone's lips is when the 'structured dialogue' announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union address on 13 September will start.