The government promised to compensate farmers for the loss of diesel subsidies through lower taxes and support programs. Now he wants to make fun of it by offering discounts “with a short expiry date”. The German Farmers’ Union is again threatening tractors on the streets and demanding lower fuel prices.
The promises of the federal government to increase the competitiveness of German agriculture through tax breaks and support programs are in fact not met. Politicians want to mock them by offering half-hearted and short-term solutions, says the German Farmers’ Union, which has threatened to resume mass tractor protests, Agrarheute reports.
The short memory of politicians
The draft of the new tax law infuriated German farmers because it turned out that the “traffic light” government did not intend to fulfill the long-term equalization of farmers’ incomes, which was supposed to compensate them for the loss of state subsidies for diesel oil. The reliefs provided for farmers are to be valid only for six years. In addition, legal persons operating in agriculture are excluded.
The bill also does not mention a tax-free risk compensation reserve of up to EUR 25,000. Even though Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner guaranteed it in his speech to protesting farmers at the Brandenburg Gate.
Farmers feel cheated by both the government and trade unionists because they abandoned the main demand behind the protests, i.e. maintaining subsidies for agricultural fuel.
Relationships save face
The president of the German Farmers’ Union, Joachim Rukwied, is now trying to save face. In an interview with Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, he threatened to resume mass agricultural protests throughout the country. He announced that tractors will be back on the roads very quickly if the government does not keep its promises in the agricultural aid package currently being negotiated. According to Rukwieda, the farmers’ anger and determination have not diminished at all and they are ready to fight until the end.
Rukwied rejects suggestions that the unions, thanks to him, squandered their excellent negotiating position after the protests by giving in to pressure from politicians and giving up their main demand, which was supported by all farmers in Germany. He stated that the protests had the right effect because thanks to them it was possible to block the taxation of agricultural machinery, as well as compulsory land set aside and a ban on plant protection in landscape protection areas at the EU level. Now, however, farmers must ensure that the government delivers on its promises at home.
The issue of fuel comes back
Interestingly, the German Farmers’ Union is again calling for a fair solution to the issue of agricultural diesel. The organization proposes that the government tax agricultural fuel at the average rate in the EU. In January this year the average rate was to be around 25 cents/l, higher than the previous refund of 21.48 cents/l. Rukwied also demands a tax exemption for biofuels in agriculture and a reduction in bureaucracy.
The unions argue that German farmers cannot be competitive in the EU, since in Belgium agricultural diesel oil is not subject to tax at all, and many other EU countries provide discounts to their farmers.
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