BERLIN (Reuters) – German farmers began a week of nationwide protests on Monday by blocking roads to protest the planned removal of some aid to the sector as part of the government’s efforts to plug a hole in the federal budget.
Images posted online showed convoys of tractors and trucks, some adorned with banners reading “No farmers, no food, no future”. In Berlin, a line of dozens of tractors blocked the avenue leading to the Brandenburg Gate.
Police said roads and highway on-ramps were blocked in many places across the country, causing traffic jams during rush hour Monday morning.
Farmers have promised to block main roads and logistics routes for a week to denounce the end of tax breaks, which they say will lead to the bankruptcy of many farms.
The blockage coincides with a strike call this week by train drivers’ union GDL, which threatens further disruption to transport in Germany from Wednesday.
Joachim Rukwied, head of the DBV agricultural union, asked for public support in an interview published on Monday.
“We do not want to lose the support and solidarity that we have received from a large part of the population,” he told Stern magazine, while adding that farmers “will not accept increases in taxes planned for the agricultural sector.
He also warned far-right activists against attempting political co-opting, a concern shared by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who said authorities were monitoring the situation.
The mobilization of farmers last week already led the coalition of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is striving to finalize a budget for 2024 delayed by a decision of the Constitutional Court, to make unexpected changes to his project, in particular by spreading the reduction subsidies to agriculture.
Rather than removing the tax break granted to farmers on diesel all at once, the subsidy will be reduced by 40% this year, by 30% in 2025 and will end from 2026.
The government also decided not to remove the preferential treatment granted on vehicle tax for forestry and agriculture.
The DBV, however, considers these changes insufficient and has maintained its calls for demonstrations.
(Reporting Andreas Rinke, written by Maria Sheahan and Miranda Murray; French version Kate Entringer)
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