Group meeting “inconclusive”
Farmers set a deadline for the Bundestag
January 15, 2024, 4:34 p.m
Farmers’ protests can be heard loudly in Berlin’s government district. In the Bundestag, representatives of the industry make their voices heard in dialogue with the traffic light groups. Afterwards, the protesters appeared disillusioned. They are demanding a solution when it comes to agricultural diesel – and quickly.
The farmers’ association has called on the Bundestag to work out a solution to the debate about agricultural diesel subsidies by Thursday evening. The meeting with the parliamentary group leaders ended without results. “Topics were discussed that we have been discussing unsuccessfully for 30 years,” said farmers’ president Joachim Rukwied. However, he is continuing to rely on exchanges as part of the budget talks in the coming days.
The parliamentary group leaders Rolf Mützenich from the SPD, Britta Haßelmann from the Greens and Christian Dürr from the FDP invited agricultural associations to a discussion on the sidelines of a rally in Berlin. The industry is protesting that the government wants to gradually remove diesel benefits that have existed for 70 years.
The farmers’ association initially does not want to call for further protests in the coming days. “We are now focusing on the exchange in the next few days and hope that there will be a solution that agriculture can also support,” said Rukwied. “We would need a result by Thursday evening, budget adjustment meeting.” In the event that there is no result, we reserve the right to take further action.
“Now it’s primarily about agricultural diesel. This tax increase has to be taken off the table. Otherwise we would be driving the most expensive agricultural diesel alongside the Dutch in all of Europe. A massive competitive disadvantage,” criticized Rukwied. Hans Foldenauer from the Federal Association of German Dairy Farmers thanked him for starting the dialogue. There have been various considerations regarding agricultural diesel, but no solution yet. “An overall package” is needed to further develop agricultural policy.
Motion for a resolution with a roadmap
The traffic light coalition itself promised relief for agriculture at the beginning of the week. After the conversation with representatives of the farmers’ associations, SPD parliamentary group leader Mützenich said that the coalition was planning structural decisions by the summer break that should give agriculture planning security and relief. For an agricultural debate in the Bundestag on Thursday, the coalition wants to submit a motion for a resolution with a timetable for concrete relief by the summer break.
Green party leader Haßelmann said there was an urgent need to discuss the question of why more income wasn’t left on the farms. This is not the case because the market power of wholesalers is great and prices are dictated. There is also talk about an animal welfare cent or an animal welfare levy. FDP parliamentary group leader Dürr criticized the bureaucratic burden on agriculture. There must be fair framework conditions. “Farmers are entrepreneurs.” They wanted to make their money on the market.