As of: March 25, 2024, 2:19 p.m
By: Franziska Schwarz
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Cem Özdemir in the ARD “Morgenmagazin” from March 25, 2024 © Screenshot: ARD media library
Green Agriculture Minister Özdemir describes the farmers' protests as “justified” - but makes fun of his predecessors.
Berlin - There were tractor blockades on Germany's roads for weeks.
Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir expressed understanding about the recent farmers' protests.
The federal government's austerity decisions at the time "came about without consultation with the farmers," said the Green politician in the
ARD
"Morgenmagazin".
The farmers were therefore burdened more than other professions.
“In this respect, the protests were justified.” However, the anger of the farmers is primarily directed against “failures from the last decades,” Özdemir continued in the March 25 edition.
“The government didn’t have the traffic light.” From 2017 to 2021, a grand coalition (“GroKo”) made up of the Union and the SPD responded.
Farmer protests before the European elections?
Rukwied doesn't rule it out
However, the German Farmers' Association has recently appeared hardly appeased.
“Our demand from December remains: we will not accept a gradual phase-out of agricultural diesel,” said association president Joachim Rukwied to
Stern
magazine .
Rukwied announced in the conversation that he would make agricultural diesel an issue with a view to the European elections in June and the federal elections next year.
Rukwied also did not rule out new farmers' protests with tractors: “We gradually phased out active demonstration activities from the end of January.
However, we continue to reserve the right to take individual actions.”
Dispute over agricultural diesel: Ampel is now offering this deal to farmers
The federal government wants to stick to the abolition of diesel subsidies for agriculture and the Union-led federal states gave up their resistance to the so-called Growth Opportunities Act on Friday: the traffic light is now offering this deal to farmers.
The law has nothing directly to do with agricultural diesel, but the CDU and CSU had called for the savings in agriculture to be withdrawn in return for their approval in the Bundesrat.
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EU summit promotes further relief for farmers
Meanwhile, a statement at the recent EU summit said that the European Commission should continue to work on support for agriculture.
In addition, the EU states themselves also want to work on further measures.
Among other things, more state support for farmers should be examined.
After sometimes violent farmers' protests, the commission had already presented relief measures several times in the past few weeks.
Among other things, environmental regulations should be relaxed and administrative costs reduced.
(frs with AFP and dpa)