Scholz Faces Mounting Pressure as Allies Side With Angry Farmers

Iain Rogers
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Olaf Scholz is coming under increasing pressure to offer additional concessions to German farmers after four regional leaders from his own Social Democratic party urged him to rethink plans to cut agriculture subsidies.

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Farmers blocked roads with giant tractors across Germany on Monday, causing widespread disruption to start a planned week of action culminating in a rally in Berlin on Jan. 15.

Although the German farming lobby is seen as less influential than its French counterpart, the issue has dominated the news flow and generated more negative headlines at a time when backing for Scholz’s three-party ruling coalition has already plunged to record lows in opinion polls. The chancellor on Monday rejected calls to back down.

Alongside the agriculture dispute, Europe’s biggest economy is bracing for more transport chaos after train drivers announced strikes from late Tuesday and through Friday as they press demands for improved pay and work conditions.

The opposition conservatives and the far-right Alternative for Germany party — in first and second place respectively in the polls — have expressed their sympathy with the farmers in a bid to further boost their support among voters.

Both Scholz and Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens, who is also the vice chancellor, have acknowledged the right to peaceful protest. At the same time, they have warned against extremist forces they say are trying to exploit the protests to undermine German democracy.

The governing alliance attempted to appease the farmers last week by scrapping a proposal to end a tax break for the agriculture and forestry sectors. But they stuck to a plan to cut a subsidy on agricultural diesel, but instead of an abrupt end, they agreed to phase it out over the next three years to allow more time for adjustment.

Read More: Germany’s New Far-Left Party Targets Voters Angry With Scholz

Both measures were part of the federal government’s efforts to cut spending in next year’s budget after November’s court ruling on special funds upended its finance planning.

Manuela Schwesig, the premier of the eastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, was one of four regional SPD leaders to express support for the farmers. She told public broadcaster ARD late Monday that the federal government’s measures were “the last straw” for the sector.

“The savings proposals above all impact rural areas and that is really wrong,” Schwesig said. “Increasing the burden there again and again is a signal to the people they have been forgotten,” she added. “It’s not just about whether the savings are necessary but how they are implemented.”

Both Schwesig and Dietmar Woidke, the SPD premier of Brandenburg, joined the farmers’ protest on Monday. Woidke called on the federal government to provide “planning security” for the sector.

“Agriculture is the heart and backbone of our rural areas,” Woidke said in a post on social media site X. “It is an essential part of our country’s economy. That is why these cuts are wrong.”

The Social Democratic heads of the states of Lower Saxony and Saarland also showed support for the protests. France had the highest agricultural output in the European Union in 2022 at €97.1 billion ($106 billion), followed by Germany on €76.2 billion and Italy with €71.5 billion, according to data from Eurostat published in November.

--With assistance from Michael Nienaber.

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