Germany On Strike, Farmers Against Government That Cuts Resources, Paying For Weapons For Ukraine

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Written by Piero Messina

Once upon a time there was the locomotive of Europe, Germany. Now the symbols of the Central European country are tractors, those thousands of tractors that parade through German cities, blocking highways and streets. It is the protest of German farmers which shows, once again, how the nation considered the economic and financial hub of the EU, for the first time since the 1990s, finds itself in the midst of an economic crisis, so much so as to recall the nickname of “Europe’s sick country”.

Since January 8, German farmers have blocked cities and roads across the country, using tractors and trucks, to protest cuts to tax subsidies, kicking off a series of strikes that have left Scholz’s government in difficulty.

According to Joachim Rukwied, head of the German farmers’ association, “This is only the first step. Our position remains unchanged: both cut proposals must be taken off the table, it is also about the future viability of our industry and the question of whether domestic food production is still necessary.”

In Berlin, the first tractors arrived in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Sunday evening. Even in Bavaria, thousands of tractors have been on the streets protesting since the early hours of the morning. The mobilization, called by the German Farmers’ Union (DBV), will last until January 15, but has already paralyzed traffic in many German cities. It is the first of a series of demonstrations against the government’s fiscal policy. From January 10th, three days of strike are planned for the railway networks, a necessary framework for the mobility of German citizens.

The farmers’ protest also caused roadblocks on the borders between Germany and Poland, the Czech Republic and France. Tractor convoys reached Munich, Hamburg, Bremen and Cologne.

The German political-financial crisis exploded at the end of the year when the German Constitutional Court declared the country’s second supplementary budget for 2021 null and void. The judges in Karlsruhe deemed the use of economic resources for the pandemic crisis in favor of the green transition illegitimate. A 60 billion euro cut that forced the German government to rewrite the budget, because the law provides for a debt margin limited to 0.35 percent of GDP in structural terms, i.e. after cyclical adjustments. In the end, to make ends meet, the government had to cut spending by 17 billion euros. That money was found by cutting economic subsidies for agriculture.

That political agreement, reached after weeks of internal negotiations in December 2023, sparked the anger of farmers who felt penalized by the cut in exemptions from fuel and vehicle taxes. Currently, farmers receive compensation for taxes paid on diesel for agricultural use and are exempt from paying car tax for agricultural vehicles.

The government tried to find a solution, moving the cancellation of subsidies to 2026. A proposal that did not convince the unions in the agricultural sector who therefore decided to challenge the government by going on strike.

“Reducing subsidies puts the safety of the food chain at risk,” said Joachim Rukwied, president of DBV.

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The general value of the cuts foreseen in the agricultural sector amount to a figure close to 2.5 billion euros. Farmers feel cheated and are watching what is happening in the East. While on the one hand the government led by Scholz penalizes agricultural production, on the other it had no difficulty in allocating a monstrous sum to supply weapons to Kiev. It is impossible not to take this into account.

On October, in fact, the German government allocated eight billion euros in military aid to Ukraine. It is the amount that Germany needs to ensure that defense spending exceeds the threshold of 2% of gross domestic product, a threshold that all NATO members are required to promise to be part of the North Atlantic Treaty. Germany is already Ukraine’s largest military supporter in Europe, while globally it trails only the United States. According to data retrieved from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Berlin has so far channeled more than 17 billion euros in direct military aid to Ukraine. Included in the package are Leopard 2 tanks and Marder armored infantry fighting vehicles. Iris-T and Patriot anti-missile systems, Gepard anti-aircraft guns and multiple rocket launchers were also sent. According to sources seen by Bloomberg, the German plans include Lockheed Martin Corporation’s F-35 fighters, Israel’s Arrow air defense system and Chinook helicopters.

Pictured L-R: State Secretary in the Federal Chancellery Egon Bahr, Chancellor Willy Brandt, Foreign Minister Walter Scheel, Government Spokesman Rüdiger von Wechmar and State Secretary in the Federal Foreign Office Paul Frank on Red Square in Moscow. Sven Simon/Imago/Global Look Press

Germany’s crisis, however, has even deeper roots. The current German economic slowdown concerns the “geopolitical” choice of Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Willy Brandt, who in the 1970s began a process of normalization and then strengthening ties with the countries of the Eastern Bloc. With the exit of the USSR, the newly formed Russian Federation was also able to benefit from this privileged relationship. Germany was therefore able to access supplies of fossil fuels, of which the most important was natural gas, at competitive prices compared to those of other Western countries. In this way it was able to fuel the development and strengthening of the manufacturing and heavy component of its industry, creating very important economic and infrastructural ties (gas pipelines) with Russia, ties that were partially interrupted with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, interrupting a decades-long and profitable relationship.

The outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis and the consequent crisis in relations between Russia and NATO countries has further exacerbated the problems related to the supply of raw materials, both “traditional” ones, such as fossil fuels, and “new” ones, used for the energy transition promoted by Brussels. The loss of stable and secure supplies is therefore a first important factor impacting the German economy. For example, the automotive sector, which has always been a pillar of Berlin’s industry, suffered a 35% reduction in production in the two-year period 2020–2022 compared to the previous two-year period due to the combination of a lack of components and a strategic shift in production towards vehicles electrical.

Industries with high energy consumption, such as steel mills and the chemical sector, have suffered the most from the backlash of the loss of cheap Russian gas, so much so that they appealed directly to the government to stem the high energy costs, especially with regards to electricity production.

In this regard, we must remember the words of the CEO of BASF, Martin Brudermüller, who, upon hearing the news of Germany’s separation from Russian gas, declared: “Do we knowingly want to destroy our entire economy?”.

Being NATO’s military hub in the heart of Europe comes at a price. A price that German farmers no longer want to pay today. The German farmers’ protest is not an isolated event. A wave of protest against the European Union and its crazy policies against the agricultural world starts right from the countryside of the Old Continent.

Just like their German colleagues, French farmers are also protesting against the cuts: a month ago several quintals of cow dung were dumped on the Champs Elysees and in front of the Elysée, which has become the symbol of the anger of French farmers. The manure, along with straw, used tires and other types of materials and waste, was poured to block the entrances of fast food outlets, tax and social security offices, but also some major road arteries. In the Netherlands and Belgium, farmers’ protests date back to March 2023. In both cases, thousands and thousands of demonstrators participated. In particular, in Holland it is estimated that on 11 March 2023, ten thousand people marched through the center of The Hague, the city where the Dutch government is based, to oppose a measure which, if approved by the government, would provide for the worsening financial burdens for all farmers and breeders who use nitrogen-containing fertilizers and livestock waste, the latter considered to be among the main causes of greenhouse gas emissions. By law, Dutch farms will have to reduce by a third the 100 million heads of cattle, pigs and poultry raised: according to estimates by the farmers’ movement, this would lead to the closure of 11,200 farms if these activities are not reconverted. In recent months the government had also put forward the proposal to take them over, but for now, few have agreed.

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