According to Özdemir (Greens), a future perspective on better farm incomes could break the current deadlock over more expensive agricultural diesel. Income declines and a creeping restructuring are especially occurring among small agricultural farms. In response to the large demonstration last Monday, Özdemir said that he could submit proposals 'in the very short term' together with his colleague from Finance Christian Lindner (FDP) to the party leaders. But this time, there must be the political will within the coalition, he said on Tuesday.
The background is an "animal welfare levy" on animal food products in supermarkets, as recommended a few years ago by the Borchert Future Commission. An additional charge of around 40 cents per kilogram of meat would be conceivable. Another variant would be a higher income tax for all Germans.
In both cases, not only livestock farmers and farmers would have to bear all modernization costs. German farmers have long complained that German supermarkets want to pay far too low purchase prices for their food products. The traffic light coalition has initially reserved one billion euros for this, but only until 2026 and intended solely for pig farming.
In initial reactions to the renewed discussion about ‘Borchert,’ an FDP spokesperson again pointed to the looming inflationary consequences but did not reject it outright. The CDU/CSU opposition also warns of tax consequences. The finance spokesman of the ruling SPD said similar plans for a ‘Borchert-like’ agricultural transition are already being worked on but will only be presented in a few months.
By the end of this week at the latest, the German Bundestag must make a decision about the planned billions in cuts, including the abolition of tax benefits for farmers. It is still unclear whether the three coalition parties will come together with a motion to put Borchert financing (meat tax or higher food VAT) back on the agenda.