Several rural producers and truck drivers in Germany began a demonstration this Monday (8) against the federal government's plans to reduce tax exemptions for the agricultural sector.
In 2020, the government decided to exempt taxes on agricultural diesel. The measure was seen at the time as a way to help farmers deal with rising production costs, however, the government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz decided to reverse this measure in December as a way to find money to remedy a fiscal deficit. of 17 billion euros in public coffers.
The association of rural producers in Germany states that the subsidy cuts could represent a loss of up to 10 thousand euros (R$61 thousand) per year for each producer. The government, in turn, says that “there is no room for more concessions” and that it already made a “partial retreat” last week, maintaining a discount on the tax on agricultural vehicles and postponing the end of the diesel subsidy for three years.
This Monday's protests have the support of the opposition and also some people who are part of Scholz's party. According to local media reports, the protests could last a week.
Germany's Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister, Robert Habeck, said that the demonstrations run the risk of being “co-opted” by what he called the “extreme right”, which was “trying to exploit the discontent of rural producers” to “foment political divisions and opposition to democracy.”
The president of the rural producers' association, Joachim Rukwied, stated that there is no infiltration within his organization and reaffirmed that the protests are taking place because of producers' dissatisfaction with the Scholz government's decision.
In addition to the strike by rural producers and truck drivers, Germany is expected to count on a railway strike from this Wednesday (10), which could last until Friday (12), according to information from the newspaper France24. The strike is the result of an impasse in negotiations between the railway union and the state operator Deutsche Bahn (DB).
The union demands a reduction in railway workers' working hours from 38 to 35 hours per week, without loss of salary, and an increase of 555 euros (R$3,400) per month.
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