Agriculture - Schwesig wants the subsidy cuts for farmers to be reversed
The Minister President of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Manuela Schwesig (SPD), has clearly rejected the Federal Government's austerity plans at the expense of farmers and called for the implementation of existing alternatives. "The federal government's plans are wrong and a sign of a lack of respect for agriculture," Schwesig told the German Press Agency in Schwerin. The background to this is the federal government's plans to remove tax concessions for farmers with regard to agricultural diesel and vehicle tax in order to plug holes in the budget.
Farmers work 365 days a year to ensure that people in Germany have good food and good drinks on their tables. "We should value that," warned the Schwerin head of government. Agriculture is systemically relevant for supplying the population and the subsidies also serve to stabilize food prices. "Our goal must be to ensure that food is affordable for everyone. Our agricultural businesses must remain competitive," demanded Schwesig.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Minister of Agriculture, Till Backhaus (SPD), had developed constructive proposals on how the federal government could achieve the necessary savings while continuing to ease the burden on farmers. In the paper passed on to the federal government by Schwesig and made available to dpa, it is proposed, among other things, that the company car privilege for hybrid vehicles be abolished and that the funds earmarked by the federal government to improve animal welfare in pig farming be canceled. Furthermore, there should no longer be double funding from the federal and state governments. By gradually reducing the tax relief for agricultural diesel, the switch to tax-free biofuels and electricity is to be accelerated.
"I could also imagine that the package from the Growth Opportunities Act will be smaller. Before new support measures are adopted, systemically relevant sectors such as agriculture and the food industry should first be stabilized," emphasized Schwesig.
"I am convinced that all measures in combination will relieve the federal budget significantly more than the injustices planned so far," Backhaus explained before consultations with his counterparts, to whom he explained his plans on Friday. In his opinion, the farmers' protest is understandable and justified. The federal government would have to save 17 billion euros and one billion was to come from agriculture alone. "That is excessive and unfair," said Backhaus.
In Berlin at the beginning of last week, thousands of farmers vented their anger with protests and a long line of tractors. Farmers' President Joachim Rukwied called on the coalition government to withdraw the plans to cut agricultural diesel and vehicle tax.
The Federal Environment Agency, meanwhile, believes it is right that farmers should no longer receive preferential treatment for diesel in future. "We must no longer incentivize in the wrong direction," said the president of the agency, Dirk Messner, to Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). The use of fossil fuels should therefore no longer be favored.
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Source: www.stern.de
