Demonstration - Farmers' association will not stop protest
Despite the federal government 's improvements to agricultural diesel and vehicle tax, the Brandenburg State Farmers' Association does not intend to stop the planned protest on Monday. Farmers' president Henrik Wendorff told dpa on Thursday afternoon: "We will not stop the protests and are sticking to our demands." Tractor demonstrations and road blockades are to be expected on Monday.
The farmers still want to ensure that the tax concessions for agricultural diesel are not affected. A number of them have complained that the situation on their farms is threatening.
On Thursday it became known that the federal government was reacting to massive protests by farmers against planned subsidy cuts. The coalition wants to abandon the abolition of the motor vehicle tax exemption for agriculture after all. The abolition of tax concessions for agricultural diesel is to be extended and implemented in several stages, as the federal government spokesperson announced in Berlin on Thursday.
Wendorff was not satisfied with this. "I am disappointed that we are not being taken seriously," he said. "We made it clear from the outset that both cuts were unacceptable for us." Farmers would not be able to compensate for higher costs for agricultural diesel and would significantly weaken their competitiveness compared to their European partners.
In several regions of Brandenburg, farmers are planning to block highway access roads, such as the A 24, with tractors on Monday morning (January 8). Drivers must expect considerable traffic disruption. The German Farmers' Association has called for a week of action starting on Monday.
Brandenburg's CDU parliamentary group leader Jan Redmann showed understanding for the farmers and that the protest will continue. "In 18 EU countries, farmers now pay less tax on agricultural diesel than in Germany," Redmann wrote on the X platform (formerly Twitter) on Thursday. "If the traffic light now sticks to the planned tax increase, this is a distortion of competition to the detriment of our farmers."
The chairman of the Beelitz asparagus association, Jürgen Jakobs, criticized, according to a statement on Thursday, that the farmers would be deprived of important sources of finance with the planned cost-cutting measures. "This puts asparagus farmers in a really precarious situation. If these cuts go ahead, not every farm will survive them. And it will mean severe cuts for the other farms."
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- The Federal Government's economic policy regarding the agricultural sector has become a source of contention, with farmers in Brandenburg planning protests over proposed changes to subsidies and vehicle tax exemptions for agricultural diesel.
- Henrik Wendorff, the president of the Brandenburg State Farmers' Association, expressed discontent with the Federal Government's response to the farmers' protests, stating that their demands have not been adequately addressed.
- The farmers' association aimed to preserve the tax concessions for agricultural diesel, which they argue would help mitigate the rising costs on their farms and maintain their competitiveness within the European agricultural market.
- In response to the farmers' protests, the Federal Government announced that it would abandon the plan to abolish the motor vehicle tax exemption for agriculture but would instead extend and implement the abolition of tax concessions for agricultural diesel in stages.
- The announcement from the Federal Government did not satisfy the farmers' association, with Henrik Wendorff expressing disappointment that the government was not taking their concerns seriously.
- Jürgen Jakobs, the chairman of the Beelitz asparagus association, echoed the farmers' concerns, stating that the planned cost-cutting measures would deprive asparagus farmers of crucial sources of finance and potentially force some farms to close.
- Brandenburg's CDU parliamentary group leader, Jan Redmann, showed support for the farmers' protests, arguing that the planned tax increase would create a distortion of competition to the detriment of German farmers.
- The German Farmers' Association called for a week of action, with farmers in several regions, including Teltow, planning to block highway access roads and cause significant traffic disruptions in an effort to draw attention to their concerns and demands.
Source: www.stern.de
