German farmers kicked off a week of nationwide protests by blocking roads with tractors on Monday, January 8 in response to plans to phase out agricultural subsidies as the coalition government scrambles to fix its finances.
Media reports says a line of dozens of tractors and trucks, some adorned with protest banners reading "No Farmers, No Future," blocked the main avenue leading to the Brandenburg Gate
Euronews reports that German farmers block major highways with tractors in protest against plans to scrap diesel tax break.
The protests are set to last all week.
In the coordinated action, farmers have reportedly driven their tractors onto highway, slip roads and smaller roads. It is the beginning of a week of protests against a government plan to scrap tax breaks on diesel used in agriculture.
In the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, farmers blocked motorway slip roads with hundreds of tractors. They were supported by haulage companies protesting against the increase in lorry tolls, according to Euronews.
In the district of Cloppenburg in northwest Lower Saxony, a main road was reportedly blocked by 40 vehicles. In Saxony, according to police, some motorway slip roads in the Dresden area were unusable. There are also gatherings on the A4, A13, A14 and A17 motorways.
Euronews says Chancellor Olaf Scholz's unpopular three-party coalition infuriated farmers in December by drawing up plans to abolish a car tax exemption for farming vehicles and the diesel tax breaks. The proposals were part of a package to fill a 17-billion-euro hole in the 2024 budget.
The government on January 4 climbed down partially, saying that the car tax exemption would be retained and the cuts in the diesel tax breaks would be staggered over three years. But the German Farmers' Association said it was still insisting on the plans being reversed fully and would go ahead with a “week of action” starting Monday.
