Current:Home > MyGermany’s government waters down a cost-cutting plan that infuriated the country’s farmers-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Germany’s government waters down a cost-cutting plan that infuriated the country’s farmers
View Date:2025-01-12 16:01:20
BERLIN (AP) — The German government on Thursday watered down cost-saving plans that have infuriated farmers, announcing that it is giving up a proposal to scrap a car tax exemption for farming vehicles and will stagger cuts to tax breaks for diesel used in agriculture.
The cuts were part of a package agreed last month by leaders of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s unpopular three-party coalition to fill a 17 billion-euro ($18.6 billion) hole in the 2024 budget.
Farmers staged a protest with tractors in Berlin and called for more demonstrations this month, and even Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir spoke out against the cuts being implemented in full. He said farmers have no alternative to diesel.
The budget revamp was necessary after Germany’s highest court annulled an earlier decision to repurpose 60 billion euros (almost $66 billion) originally meant to cushion the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic for measures to help combat climate change and modernize the country. The maneuver fell afoul of Germany’s strict self-imposed limits on running up debt.
A government statement Thursday said Scholz, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and Finance Minister Christian Lindner have now agreed to maintain the car tax exemption for farming vehicles in order to save those concerned “in some cases significant bureaucratic effort.”
The tax breaks on diesel will no longer end all at once, giving farmers “more time to adapt,” it added. They will be cut by 40% this year, with another 30% being cut in each of the next two years.
“We have found a good solution that averts a disproportionate burdening of agriculture — you know I always warned against that,” Özdemir said in a brief statement to reporters in Berlin.
However, the German Farmers’ Association said the government’s about-turn didn’t go far enough and that it would stick to its planned protests.
“This can only be a first step,” its chairman, Joachim Rukwied, said in a statement. “Our position is unchanged: Both proposed cuts must be taken off the table.”
Other aspects of the budget deal included an abrupt end to subsidies for buying new electric cars, which originally were due to stay in place until as late as the end of this year. Habeck’s Economy Ministry announced an end to new applications with less than two days’ notice.
The government also raised Germany’s levy on carbon dioxide emissions from fuel by more than previously planned at the start of the year, which is expected to impact prices for gasoline, diesel, natural gas and heating oil.
The CO2 price rose to 45 euros (about $49) per ton of emissions from the previous 30 euros. The government had planned a smaller increase to 40 euros before the budget verdict.
veryGood! (7391)
Related
- Jennifer Hudson, Kylie Minogue and Billy Porter to perform at Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade
- Which products could be affected by a lengthy port strike? Alcohol, bananas and seafood, to name a few
- Coldplay Is Back With Moon Music: Get Your Copy & Watch Them Perform The Album Live Before It Drops
- Andrew Garfield Addresses Rumor La La Land Is About Relationship With Ex Emma Stone
- Kalen DeBoer, Jalen Milroe save Alabama football season, as LSU's Brian Kelly goes splat
- She lost her job after talking with state auditors. She just won $8.7 million in whistleblower case
- Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi Share Behind-the-Scenes Look at Italian Wedding Ceremony
- Analyzing Alabama-Georgia and what it means, plus Week 6 predictions lead College Football Fix
- NFL Week 10 injury report: Live updates on active, inactive players for Sunday's games
- FBI will pay $22.6 million to settle female trainees' sex bias claims
Ranking
- The ancient practice of tai chi is more popular than ever. Why?
- Tigers ace Tarik Skubal shuts down Astros one fastball, one breath, and one howl at a time
- 23XI Racing, co-owned by Michael Jordan, and Front Row Motorsports sue NASCAR
- Federal appeals court rejects Alex Murdaugh’s appeal that his 40-year theft sentence is too harsh
- What is ‘Doge’? Explaining the meme and cryptocurrency after Elon Musk's appointment to D.O.G.E.
- Bills' Von Miller suspended for four games for violating NFL conduct policy
- Train Singer Pat Monahan Proves Daughter Autumn Is All Grown Up in Rare Photo for 16th Birthday
- Why Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix Are Sparking Wedding Rumors
Recommendation
-
More than 150 pronghorns hit, killed on Colorado roads as animals sought shelter from snow
-
Michael Jordan’s 23XI and a 2nd team sue NASCAR over revenue sharing model
-
D-backs owner says signing $25 million pitcher was a 'horrible mistake'
-
Price gouging, fraud, ID theft: Feds say scammers set sights on Hurricane Helene victims
-
Taylor Swift gifts 7-year-old '22' hat after promising to meet her when she was a baby
-
Queen Elizabeth II Battled Bone Cancer, Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson Says
-
Kate Middleton Embraces Teen Photographer Battling Cancer in New Photo
-
Woody Allen and His Wife Soon-Yi Previn Make Rare Public Appearance Together in NYC