FDP man Kubicki criticizes the traffic light's agricultural savings plans

In Germany, farmers are protesting against the federal government's traffic light plans. FDP politician Wolfgang Kubicki explains at IPPEN.MEDIA where the coalition could save money instead.

Munich – The traffic light coalition is sometimes doing very poorly in surveys; in southern Bavaria, the CSU in Seeon presented program items that would supposedly do better in a federal government.

Farmer protests in Germany: Wolfgang Kubicki understands farmers

On Monday (January 8th), Germany's farmers want to paralyze cities and highways in order to protest against the federal government made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP with the force of their tractors and agricultural machinery together with freight forwarders and their truck drivers. Already on Sunday evening (January 7th), many farmers gathered in Berlin, and in Saxony they blocked the first motorway entrances, for example near Görlitz.

But: Are the protests still justified now that the “traffic light” has withdrawn planned cuts? “It is their right that the farmers want to continue protesting. It would be quite undemocratic to declare: Now that we are putting less strain on you, you have to be happy,” explained FDP politician Wolfgang Kubicki when asked by IPPEN.MEDIA: “We should refrain from any consideration of questioning the right to demonstrate because the government now prefers to be praised.”

Instead, Kubicki called on the traffic light coalition, of which his party is part alongside the SPD and the Greens, to focus on other issues. The “Traffic Light” had partially reversed cuts for farmers in the agricultural diesel dispute at the beginning of the year. The vehicle tax exemption for agriculture should not be canceled. Tax benefits for agricultural diesel should also be reduced gradually until 2026 and not all at once. In 2024, the relief rate will be reduced by 40 percent – and not completely.

Farmer protests in Germany: FDP man Kubicki calls for more relief for farmers

But all of this is not enough for the farmers. If Kubicki has his way, it cannot be ruled out that the traffic light federal government will completely forego cutting subsidies for agricultural diesel.

“Of course it can, Parliament decides on this issue, not the federal government. In any case, I would be in favor of looking at other budget items, especially when it comes to development aid,” said the 71-year-old from Lower Saxony IPPEN.MEDIA and gave an example: “If we use over half a million euros for 'capacity building and gender training for grassroots civil society organizations and social work stations in a Chinese province', and instead place more burdens on our fishermen and farmers, then this can no longer be rationally explained .”

Farmer protests in Germany: Farmers direct anger against traffic light coalition

“If the farmer is ruined, your food will be imported!” Farmers across Germany have been demonstrating with such slogans for weeks against the policies of the current coalition in the federal government, which feels compelled to save money after the budget chaos before Christmas. On Thursday evening (January 4th), dozens of farmers at the port town of Schlüttsiel in North Frisia even prevented a ferry carrying Vice Chancellor and Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) from docking. (pm)