SPIEGEL: Mr. Albrecht, do you have sympathy with CDU Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner when she is being boasted by thousands of farmers?
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Albrecht: No. The problems have been known for years, the German government has not tackled them for far too long. Now she has decided on an agrarian package that contains important incentives to operate more ecologically. But many companies have invested in the meantime and have not opted for more sustainable business. Now they are protesting because they are standing with their backs to the wall. For the Federal Republic of this is a problem, because it threatens penalties to the EU.
SPIEGEL: So the farmers rightly protest?
Albrecht: Many companies can not afford what is expected of them. I do not want to obscure that many peasants do not care about the protection of water and soil. In recent years, politicians have not made them understand why this protection is necessary - even for their own future. The vast majority know that we have a huge change ahead of us. But they can not rebuild their farm without help.
SPIEGEL: Few sectors are subsidized as much as agriculture.
Albrecht: I think it's right that tax money flows here. But in recent years, we have still promoted large companies with premiums. Part of the problem is that food is too cheap for us. Retailers were able to push prices down to dignity. That too is policy failure.
SPIEGEL: What do you think of the agricultural package itself?
Albrecht: It is a step in the right direction, but overall it is too short-sighted. It contains important ecological specifications, such as pesticides. And more funds will be made available for environmental incentives and animal welfare aspects in agriculture.
SPIEGEL: In your party, many are dissatisfied with it.
Albrecht: One has failed to ask the fundamental questions first: Which agricultural companies do we want in the future? Which environmental standards? To what extent do we want to serve the world market? And what do consumers want?
SPIEGEL: The fronts are hardened. Is it too late for peaceful questions?
Video: Farmers demonstrate against new laws
Thilo Schmuelgen / REUTERS
Albrecht: The farmers demonstrate for understandable reasons. But escalation does not continue. Farmers and their associations must also listen and be open to new ways.
SPIEGEL: How do you handle this dilemma in Schleswig-Holstein?
Albrecht: We have set up environmental organizations together with farmers and asked: Where should agriculture be in 20 years? Today, when a young farmer takes over a business, he has to decide whether to invest in a new barn, in a photovoltaic or in a biogas plant. Or he just changes his farm to organic farming. So now he has to know what's worth to him.
SPIEGEL: You followed Robert Habeck, and for almost eight years a green Minister of Agriculture has been sitting in Kiel. But even in your country too many farm animals are still kept in too small a space.
Albrecht: Soils in Schleswig-Holstein are very fertile, we can produce a lot. This is exploited. But, of course, we are discussing how we can keep fewer animals per area and lower nitrate levels in soils. For that we have to downsize the farms; This takes a while.
SPIEGEL: You are not going any further with that?
Albrecht: In Schleswig-Holstein, we went a long way in implementing the fertilizer regulations. We have intensive monitoring and standards above the federal level.
SPIEGEL: Before you went to Kiel, you were a MEP. Agricultural policy is also a bone of contention in the EU.
Albrecht: Above all, the EU Commission is starting to rethink. Unfortunately, the Member States continue to rely on the status quo for agricultural subsidies. For a long time now, I expect the German government to have a word of power that things can not go on like this. But the most influential EU member Germany remains strangely silent. We still act as if we were in the 1950s when it came to securing food supplies.
SPIEGEL: Even though the CSU has officially committed itself to biodiversity with Markus Söder, is a black-and-green agricultural change even conceivable?
Albrecht: There are still some in the Union who want to ward off any change. This is irresponsible and has driven the farmers into this dead end. But now there are others who have recognized the problem. If we want to secure jobs in agriculture, then we need a blatant turnaround on how and what kind of agriculture should be promoted.
