The protest demonstrations by German farmers began this Monday against the German government's agricultural policy, with serious consequences for the country's transport. Across Germany, farmers are blocking access to highways and paralyzing city centers with their long lines of tractors.
In many places the blockades began early in the morning. In the German capital, hundreds of farmers gathered with their tractors for the main demonstration. at the Brandenburg Gate. There were such in other federal states such as Bavaria, Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia “Massive traffic disruptions” in some points. Access to some highways was closed and only one lane was open to traffic on certain roads. The tractor marches will converge in a large demonstration in Berlin on January 15th.
Farmers are demonstrating against the federal government's austerity policy, which became necessary after a Constitutional Court ruling banned the coalition from using money from loans approved during the pandemic for other purposes. The savings plan initially intended to eliminate the benefits in one fell swoop existing taxes for diesel and vehicle tax exemption for agricultural and forestry vehicles. As a result, the federal government could have recorded almost a billion euros in additional revenue.
In December 2023, farmers protested against these measures and the government reversed some of the cuts. At the moment, Plans call for the exemption from diesel tax to expire, over a period of three years. From 2027 there will no longer be any diesel subsidies. According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, an average company can expect to spend around 1,000 euros more on diesel by 2024. The exemption from vehicle tax should remain permanent.
The President of the German Farmers' Association, Joachim Rukwied, claims that the concessions are still not enough. “In the end that means: dying in installments”, says. “This is unacceptable. It needs to be removed.”
“If there are no more farmers, their plates will be empty,” reads the sign next to a tractor. “If there are no more farmers, their plates will be empty,” reads the sign next to a tractor.
“If there are no more farmers, your plates will be empty,” says the poster next to a tractor at a protest rally in Germany.Image: Stefan Puchner/dpa/picture Alliance
The industry newspaper “Agrarheute” even speaks of “record profits” in the 2022/23 financial year. The German Farmers' Association also claims that operating results are at an all-time high: “After many lean years, the economic situation of companies has improved significantly in the last two years,” says the association's annual report.
Full-time businesses, i.e. those that represent the most important source of income for their owners, achieved a business result of 115,400 euros per company, an increase of 45% compared to the previous year. Farmers in particular benefited from the sharp rise in food prices.
However, the chairman of the farmers' association, Rukwied, is skeptical about the future and, according to the “Tagesspiegel”, assumes that income will fall. For example, the price per liter of milk fell from its peak of 60 cents to 40 cents. On the other hand, he predicts that salary costs will continue to rise. There is also another fact that does not suggest that agriculture is a particularly attractive sector of the economy in Germany: The number of agricultural businesses in Germany has been declining for decades.
Many in Germany are looking at this week's events with concern, not only because of the traffic paralysis, but also because right-wing extremists could be among the demonstrators at the farmers' protests, say politicians and the Federal Criminal Police Office. Right-wing extremist parties and groups have already called for participation in the protests.
The populist and partly right-wing extremist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) called for a “general strike” in Thuringia against “social destroyers” in the federal government. According to reports, the right-wing extremist minority party La Tercera Vía (The Third Way) and the right-wing One Percent initiative also called for participation in the protests.
An angry mob prevented the German economics minister from Robert Habeck, and other passengers left a ferry in the North Sea last week. Right-wing extremists had previously stirred up discontent against the Green politician.
The German Farmers' Association expressly distanced itself from these events: “Right-wing radical groups, conspiracy theorists and other radicals have no place in our association,” it said in a statement published on Instagram. In an interview with the newspaper “Bild am Sonntag” Rukwied said: “We are Democrats, and when political change occurs, it happens through voting at the ballot box.”
Matthias Quent, an extremism researcher from Magdeburg, called for greater distancing from this danger in an interview for Deutschlandfunk. In his opinion, farmers should not only verbally distance themselves from the extreme right, but also set a sign of democracy with their banners at demonstrations. Some posters showed gallows and called on the government to “go away.”