Germany’s farmers are revolting
Sabine Beppler-Spahl reports from Berlin on the protests against the German government’s environmental policies – and why the farmers have widespread support.
Thousands of tractors rolled through Berlin on Monday. The city was clogged for hours as the approximately 6,000 machines made their way to the city centre. Their destination was Brandenburg Gate where a protest rally, attended by many thousands (the organisers claimed 30,000) took place. It was the climax of a week-long protest organised by German farmers all over the country. And it was a massive show of discontentment with the government and its green agenda.
‘The traffic light coalition must go’, was the main demand, displayed on banners fixed to the tractors. (The traffic light stands for the party colours of the three coalition partners - SPD, Green Party and Liberals.) It was a message echoed by the participants at the demonstration in front of the Brandenburg Gate too. When asked why they were taking part in the rally, people replied ‘because this policy is not only destroying the farmers, but the whole country’, or ‘because we are fed up with the restrictions imposed on us’.
The protests were triggered in December when the government announced that it would abolish tax reliefs on agricultural diesel and farm vehicles. This was to be part of a general budget cut which became necessary after a court ruling exposed a €17 billion gap in the original 2024 budget. The additional burden on farmers was justified with the argument that the government wanted to cancel ‘climate-damaging subsidies’. Farmers, who depend on agricultural diesel vehicles - understandably - saw this as an outrageous disregard for their work. ‘Why should we pay for the government’s incompetence?’ asked one farmer said at the rally.
It was stupid of the government to believe it could get away with its new tax hikes at a time of growing discontentment. Like other entrepreneurs, farmers are suffering from the high energy prices in Germany. And because parts of the chemical industry have ceased production, fertiliser prices have also rocketed. In January, before the protests hit the streets, the government tried to appease the angry farmers by taking back the tax on vehicle fuel. It also said that the diesel tax would be phased out over a period of two years, rather than all at once. But the farmers who had geared up for the fight were not willing to be put off by such half-hearted compromises.
In truth, the protests have been about much more than subsidies or taxes. For years, discontentment at ever harsher environmental regulations and time-consuming bureaucracy has been building up amongst farmers. In 2019, farmers blocked Berlin’s streets after the Merkel government demanded a 20 per cent reduction in the use of fertilisers, as part of its agricultural reform package.
Since then, matters have become even worse. Keen to meet the EU’s strict nitrate laws, the current government announced further directives on nitrates, pesticides and animal-husbandry last summer. As part of the EU’s green new deal, farmland is now being identified for ‘renaturalisation’. Many farmers have already had to reduce their animal stock as a result. For years, farmers have been exposed to campaigns against factory farming by climate activists. The fact that the minister of agriculture, Cem Özdemir, is a member of the Green Party and a vegetarian has not exactly boosted confidence in the government. ‘If we all eat less meat together, we can all do our bit for the planet’, the minister told a TV talk show last year.
The determination of the farmers and the size of the protests have caught the government unprepared. On Monday, many protesters said they were fighting for nothing less than the survival of their industry. Without the freedom to make informed decisions, farming would have no future in Germany, they said. But what has made these latest protests special is that they have found such widespread support. Hauliers, craftsmen, restaurant owners and hunters were amongst those standing in front of Brandenburg Gate. Lorry drivers have announced that they will continue the protests this week. And as the tractors rolled through Berlin, countless people could be seen waving at them, and showing the thumbs up sign. A survey carried out by one of Berlin’s leading newspapers found that 65 per cent of those questioned said they stood on the side of the farmers.
For the government coalition, the protests are another low point. In December, a representative poll conducted by the research institute infratest dimap found that only 17 per cent still approve of chancellor Olaf Scholz and his coalition. ‘This government’, said one participant at the demonstration, ‘has no legitimacy anymore’. One reason why farmers are getting so much support from the population is because more and more people are feeling the effects of the cost-of-living crisis - a result of high energy costs and inflation. ‘We certainly can’t make people pay more for food’, one farmer who had travelled all the way from southern Germany (Pfalz) explained.
Regrettably, the government has reacted very helplessly. It has said that it would hold on to the cuts, but would reduce bureaucracy for farmers. When Scholz finally commented on the protests last week, he accused the farmers of being too radical: ‘If legitimate protests turn into anger or disregard for democratic processes and institutions, then we all lose’, he said. Such warnings say more about the chancellor and his fear than about the actual protests. The participants on Monday reacted with derision when asked about reports of far-right groups infiltrating the protests. ‘Do you see any right-wingers here?’ asked one. ‘Such talk is all about unsettling people’, said another.
There were some flags showing the colours of the right-populist AfD, but very few, and only on the periphery. Indeed, the AfD has not been particularly popular with farmers so far. In the last general election in 2021, only eight per cent of farmers voted for the party. In September last year in rural Bavaria, which is home to many of the protesters, 52 per cent of farmers voted for the conservative Christian Social Union (the sister party to the centre-right CDU) and 37 per cent voted for the populist Free Voters, which is led by a former farmer – and only six per cent for the AfD.
It won't help the government to lump the farmers and their supporters into the corner of right-wing extremists. It will only make people think that for this government, anyone who opposes its green agenda is right-wing. The great solidarity with the farmers shows how exposed this agenda stands.
Sabine Beppler-Spahl is chair of the German liberal think tank Freiblickinstitut e.V., which organises the Berlin Salons, and she is the Germany correspondent for spiked.
Picture: Leonhard Lenz, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
FROM THE ARCHIVE - BATTLE OF IDEAS FESTIVAL 2022
EUROPE TODAY: STORM CLOUDS OVER THE CONTINENT?
Why does European politics feel more unstable and unpredictable than ever? Are old certainties, such as Germany’s economic power being put into question? And where is the EU in all of this? In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many forecast a new renaissance for the idea of Europe, and the institution of the EU. Such predictions now seem to have been optimistic at best. How can the continent, its politicians and institutions, survive the current storms?
Speakers include Ivar Arpi Journalist, Sabine Beppler-Spahl Chair, Thomas Fazi, David Goodhart and Stepan Hobza. The Chair is Bruno Waterfield.
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