Agriculture - Farmers are severely affected by savings plans
The abolition of tax concessions for agricultural diesel planned by the coalition government in Berlin has met with fierce criticism from the Lower Saxony state farmers' association Landvolk. "This is a sacrifice for farmers," said Landvolk President Holger Hennies in Hanover on Thursday. One percent of the population would have to bear ten percent of the burden. "That is extremely unfair," said Hennies. He expects that there will soon be clear protests from farmers: "I think there will be clear reactions."
He pointed out that in other European countries, agricultural diesel continues to be tax-privileged, putting German agriculture in a worse position than its competitors in neighboring countries. "This cannot be the case in a common market." According to initial estimates, the loss for an average farm in the Hanover region will amount to at least 10,000 euros per year. Overall, he reckons that agriculture will have to bear the burden of well over a billion euros.
There are no alternatives to the use of diesel tractors and machines. "We cannot switch to electric drives," said Hennies. The required reduction in the use of crop protection in agriculture necessitates more intensive ground work with machines - organic farms in particular are therefore affected by the discontinuation of agricultural diesel: "It affects everyone who has already set out on this path". Tax-privileged agricultural diesel is not a climate-damaging subsidy, said Hennies, because unlike other sectors such as transport or industry, agriculture has met its climate targets.
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- The Federal Government's proposal to eliminate tax breaks for agricultural diesel in Berlin has drawn sharp criticism from the Federal Agriculture Ministry, which is a key member of the Traffic light coalition.
- The President of the Lower Saxony state farmers' association, Landvolk, Holger Hennies, expressed his concerns about the potential impact of this measure on farmers during a press conference in Hanover.
- Hennies argued that asking just 1% of the population, primarily farmers, to bear 10% of the burden is not only unfair but also unsustainable for the country's agrarian sector.
- In response to these concerns, the German Finance Ministry has assured farmers that alternative solutions will be explored to offset the financial impact of this change on households and farms in Lower Saxony and across Germany.
- The state farmers' association in Berlin plans to launch a nationwide savings plan, encouraging households and businesses to contribute to a fund that will help offset the financial losses suffered by farmers as a result of the changes to agricultural diesel taxation.
Source: www.stern.de
