On Monday, German tractors hit the roads again. This week, the parliament is to vote on the budget and decide on the issue of agricultural fuel subsidies. Dissatisfaction with European agricultural policy is also growing in Austria and even neutral Switzerland.
The protests of German farmers continue unabated and continued over the weekend. On Monday, tractors were back on the road. According to German media, hundreds of tractors blocked the JadeWeserPort in Wilhemshaven today, as well as the entrances to the A29 motorway in Lower Saxony. Tractor convoys were also to be blocked in the cities of Oldenburg and Cloppenburg in this state.
This week, the German houses of parliament are to vote on the draft budget for 2024, which will also mean deciding on the issue of subsidizing agricultural fuel. Until then, farmers’ protests will certainly continue to keep up the pressure on politicians. It is difficult to predict how agricultural unions will react if MPs pass the government’s proposals.
In any case, the issue of taxing diesel oil for farmers is just one of many reasons for the wave of protests that has continued unabated for weeks. Recently, stronger demands for the revision of climate policy and the Green Deal strategy have come to the fore. This resulted in farmers being joined by other professional groups: forwarders, builders, craftsmen, and service providers.
It is also brewing in Austria
As we learn from the German-language media, farmers in Austria also fully support the demands of German colleagues. Massive protests were also planned there, but they were canceled at the last minute. As it turns out, this was decided by industry associations when it came to light that the far right, which is preparing for elections in Austria, wants to take advantage of the farmers’ anger.
However, this does not change the fact that hundreds of farmers have declared their readiness to protest. So far, they have expressed their dissatisfaction with the EU and national agricultural policy by supporting German farmers in protests, but the tense situation there also led to an outbreak of social dissatisfaction. As a result, there were protests in Vienna.
Dissatisfied Swiss
German farmers were also supported in large numbers by farmers from Switzerland during the protests in the south of the country. Several dozen tractors set off, for example, from Basel to the agricultural blockade in Freiburg – we read on the Schweizer Bauer website. We also learn there that the Swiss wanted to protest at home in Basel, but they encountered difficulties, so they went to Germany.
As they argue: every nonsense that the EU or the German government comes up with sooner or later reaches Switzerland. In addition to the Green Deal, they are also afraid of price pressure in Europe and a further decline in production profitability, which also affects organic production. In their opinion, EU climate policy is coming down to destroying not only farmers, but the entire middle class and private property.
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