It's action week in Germany. It is not only farmers who continue to protest. This week, transport companies and fishermen are also joining. And if that wasn't enough, the railway union GDL announced a strike for the second half of this week. All in all, this involves more than a hundred different actions against the German government's tax plans.
The abolition of the tax refund on diesel and the introduction of motor vehicle tax for agricultural vehicles was the final straw for farmers. They have been demonstrating against the traffic light coalition's tax plans for almost a month now (traffic light coalition) as the government of Social Democrats, Liberals and Greens is called.
Deutscher Bauernveband (DVB) announced a week of action last Friday with blockades, tractor columns and protests. The logistics interest group Bundesverband Güterkraftverkehr Logistik und Entsorgung (BGL) is angry about the increase in the kilometer charge (toll) and the double tax on CO2 (both in the diesel price and in the kilometer tax). German fishermen are angry about the reduction of fishing areas in the North Sea and believe that this is the final item in the budget of the German Ministry of Agriculture. Money originally intended for fishing is now being used for other purposes. “What is happening now in the North Sea is basically the same as taking away a farmer's land,” the Verband der Deutschen Kutter- und Küstenfischer (VDKK) wrote in a statement.
Ordinary tax increase
The government says that diesel prices should rise as an incentive for the switch to cleaner alternative energy. There are no electric (agricultural) tractors and combines yet, and road transport is used toll increased equally for both diesel and electric. “It looks like raising money without any thought behind it,” said the VDKK. The survival of SMEs and family businesses is at stake due to the German government's plans, according to the participating interest groups.
DBV and BGL stand for a clear yet friendly and democratic protest. They call on companies that want to participate to only join the previously announced actions. This week involves numerous smaller and larger actions. A mass protest is planned in Berlin next Monday (January 15).
The massive demonstrations in Germany are somewhat reminiscent of the farmers' protests in the Netherlands. In Germany, tax increases are the reason, while in the Netherlands it was nitrogen. And while in the Netherlands some protesting farmers did not shy away from protesting near Minister Van der Wal's house, in Germany the ferry on which Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck was sitting turned around because of demonstrators who were waiting for him.
To some extent, you could say that the farmers' protests represent more than just nitrogen or taxes. A left-wing progressive government with great ambitions in the field of climate and the environment wants to take painful and expensive measures that a significant portion of the population is completely opposed to.
Declining popularity
Just like Rutte IV in the Netherlands, the traffic light coalition led by Olaf Scholz does not win the popularity prize, to put it mildly. Another similarity with the Netherlands is that none of the three coalition partners has an interest in dropping the government on this issue. The Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) have reinvented themselves after the Merkel period and are in fierce opposition to the Scholz government. The right-wing AfD is also doing well in the polls. This year, elections will be held in the states of Brandenburg, Thuringia and Saxony, which are being closely monitored by political watchers. In all three states in the former GDR, the current government includes the social-democratic SPD, with or without the Grüne, Linke or CDU. The AfD is doing well in the polls in these three states and is even the largest party.
The fact that the German economy is ailing and with three quarters of contraction in a row, Germany is seen as a laggard within the euro zone. Germany would not be Germany if the memory of the war was not kept alive. With moderate economic prospects, low confidence in politics and the rise of an extreme right-wing party, the parallel with the Weimar Republic is made easy.
Several newspapers and other media emphasize that the current protests are against tax measures and that they are not a strike for political goals or ideas. The railway strike is separate from that. A general strike in the Federal Republic is virtually impossible and people who would like to stop work in solidarity with the farmers risk consequences. The right to demonstrate (which includes farmers' protests) is legally very different from the right to strike. DVB and BGL expressly distance themselves from any extreme right-wing movements that might want to join the protests.