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Farmer in Baden-Württemberg at work (photo from 2021)
Photo: Marijan Murat / dpa
The change of course of the FDP in Lower Saxony could also have consequences in the federal government: The Liberals have recently supported a price surcharge on meat products in order to relieve pig farmers in particular financially when implementing animal welfare measures.
This emerges from a position paper by the FDP in the Lower Saxony state parliament, which, according to parliamentary group leader Stefan Birkner, was coordinated on Monday with “leading heads” of the federal FDP.
So far, the FDP in the federal government had rejected an animal welfare levy.
In June, the party referred to additional costs for consumers.
"There must be no further burden on consumers, neither through VAT nor through a levy," said Carina Konrad, FDP parliamentary group vice-president at the time.
The Liberals are now open in principle, but there is a risk of a new dispute over the amount of the fee.
Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir (Greens) must discuss this with those involved, said Lower Saxony FDP parliamentary group leader Birkner.
However, it must not exceed 40 cents per kilogram of meat.
"From our point of view, that is certainly the maximum that can be talked about," said Birkner.
With a consumption of 7.4 million tons of meat per year, this corresponds to income of almost three billion euros, which should flow into an animal welfare fund by federal law.
The levy should apply to all countries of origin and also to wholesalers.
The grocers are responsible for “keeping the burden on customers as low as possible and ideally bearing all of the additional costs”.
In return, the FDP wants to prevent new requirements for animal husbandry
However, the new proposal is part of a package, emphasized Birkner.
The FDP is also calling for mandatory labeling of meat products with a view to husbandry and origin, as well as a ban on new animal husbandry requirements that put German agriculture at a disadvantage in European competition.
In addition, legal requirements would have to be changed in order to make investments in barn buildings legally secure.
The aim is to prevent a structural break in the affected regions.
A mandatory animal welfare tax would probably be beneficial for Lower Saxony, as there are many farms in the state.
More than half of all German fattening chickens and roosters are kept in the federal state (60 percent), around every third pig (33 percent) and around every fifth beef (21 percent).
fek/dpa