German Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner (CDU) pulled her proposals for the modernization of agriculture and livestock farming from the cabinet agenda at the last minute. There are still major disagreements with coalition partner SPD, the sixteen federal states, and the (Green) opposition.
Klöckner postponed her proposals by a week but already anticipates that the entire agricultural dossier may be delayed until after the federal elections in September. Last week, the agriculture ministers of the sixteen German states failed to agree on the scope of the legislative proposals and their funding.
A contributing factor is that Klöckner has laws in preparation to implement the new European CAP agricultural policy in Germany, including the environmental measures of the Green Deal. The SPD believes Klöckner is approaching this far too loosely, while the Greens think she is doing far too little.
An additional problem is that the ministries, the states, and the farmers disagree on who should ultimately bear the cost of increased environmental protection in agriculture: the farmer, the dairy cooperative, the supermarkets, the customer, or the taxpayer.
The CDU state ministers agree with their party colleague Klöckner but want Berlin to transfer more powers to them. The SPD ministers want more animal welfare and fewer chemicals in German agricultural policy. The Greens believe Klöckner should first wait to see what the new CAP policy actually becomes—following the EU trilogue negotiations.
Renovations of German barns to meet animal welfare requirements would cost 2.9 billion euros by 2025 and 4.3 billion euros by 2030. This emerges from a feasibility study commissioned by Minister Klöckner from the so-called Borchert Commission. The study's results have been available since early March.
Initially, an additional levy on "environmentally polluting food production" (including a meat tax) seemed obvious. In that case, the consumer would pay the farmer through the supermarket and supplier, but this involves many complexities and administrative burdens.
Currently, consideration is being given to higher VAT on environmentally unfriendly food (paid by the customer) or a general tax increase (paid by every citizen regardless of purchasing and eating behavior). In both cases, the government acts as an intermediary.
Several hundred farmers from all over Germany demonstrated yesterday in Berlin against the forthcoming animal welfare law and the insect protection plan. On Friday, the Bundesrat (First Chamber - editor) will discuss the coalition's legislative proposal. The sixteen federal states will also meet again on Friday in a last attempt to reach agreement.