Lindner open to withdrawal
Habeck defends controversial agricultural diesel decision
December 16, 2023, 6:56 a.m
Because the traffic light government has to replan its budget and make do with much less money following a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, benefits will be canceled, among other things. This also affects farmers. They want to protest. The Vice Chancellor explains the decision.
The Green Party politician Robert Habeck has defended the planned abolition of tax breaks for agricultural diesel. At the same time, he defended Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, also from the Greens, against criticism. “The Federal Chancellor, the Finance Minister and I had to make the decision on agricultural diesel subsidies in the spirit of an overall solution,” said Habeck. “It wasn’t easy and I also know about the hardships. The Minister of Agriculture warned against canceling the agricultural diesel subsidy. Cem Özdemir knows the situation of the farmers and the burden and has made that very clear.”
Habeck further said that he had also discussed these arguments with his government partners. “But as a result of the Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling, we have to make do with less money and limit spending. And the three of us made this decision as part of the overall package.” On Wednesday, after long negotiations with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Finance Minister Christian Lindner, the Minister of Economic Affairs agreed on how billions in holes in the federal budget for 2024 and in the climate and transformation fund should be plugged following a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court.
The CDU deputy general secretary Christina Stumpp sharply criticized the abolition of tax breaks for agricultural diesel. Özdemir is abandoning rural agriculture and rural areas and is committing a “serious breach of his word”. The German Farmers’ Association is calling for a rally in Berlin this Monday to protest against the planned abolition of tax breaks. Under the motto “Too much is too much” the aim is to make clear the outrage over the end to regulations on agricultural diesel and the vehicle tax exemption for agriculture and forestry. DBV President Joachim Rukwied had already asked the traffic light coalition to withdraw the plans. Otherwise, agriculture has no future
Lindner is now open to reversing the planned cuts and replacing them with other cuts. “To be clear: I am not a fan of the burden on agricultural businesses,” the finance minister told the Germany editorial network. The issue will therefore have to be discussed in the government and coalition. “I am open to alternatives,” emphasized the FDP chairman. Özdemir joined the criticism and warned that there could be a farm die-off of unprecedented proportions in Germany because of the planned cuts in agricultural subsidies. “I share the concern,” said Özdemir on ARD.