GERMAN GOVERNMENT DROPS PLANNED SUBSIDY CUTS AFTER FARMERS PROTEST
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Agency Report
In response to strong opposition from farmers, the German government on Thursday abandoned a portion of its plans to reduce agricultural subsidies.
A spokeswoman for Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Steffen Hebestreit, stated in a statement that the farm machinery deduction on the car tax will remain in place, in contrast to the original plans.
According to Hebestreit, tax savings on fuel used by the same cars would be gradually reduced rather than eliminated entirely.
According to him, the decision was made “in order to avoid the sometimes considerable bureaucratic effort for the companies affected” and in light of fresh information regarding the status of the government’s finances.
The government’s spending plans were upset by a shocking court verdict, which led to the original announcement in December that the subsidies would expire.
Farmers staged large-scale protests almost immediately after the decision, descending in their numbers on central Berlin.
Using tractors, the demonstrators stopped a major thoroughfare in the city’s centre and scattered manure across the pavement.
Joachim Rukwied, the head of the German Farmers’ Association (DBV), called the partial return of the tax breaks “insufficient.”
“Our position remains unchanged: both proposed cuts must be abandoned,” Rukwied said.
In November, Germany’s top court ruled that the government had violated a constitutional debt rule by moving $60 billion ($66 billion) intended for pandemic assistance to a climate fund.
Social Democrat Scholz worked with his junior coalition allies, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, to hammer out a new financial plan for 2024 after passing an emergency budget for 2023.
According to Hebestreit, the government intended for the amended budget to be approved by the German parliament’s lower house in January. The budget is temporary until it is passed.
AFP
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