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BERLIN (AP) – A line of tractors stands on Monday as farmers gather for the climax of a week of demonstrations against a planned diesel tax cut for farmers, a protest that taps into widespread discontent with the German government. entered Berlin.
Police said late Sunday night that the space set aside for vehicles in front of the Brandenburg Gate, where Monday’s demonstration was taking place, was already full. Over the past week, farmers have blocked highway entrances in protests, reducing traffic across Germany and attempting to pressure Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government to abandon planned cuts altogether. .
They are not satisfied with the concessions the government has already made. On January 4, the company watered down its original plan, announcing that it would maintain the car tax exemption for agricultural vehicles and phase in reductions in diesel tax breaks over three years.
“We took the farmers’ claims seriously,” Scholz said in a video message on Saturday, insisting the government had come up with a “good compromise.” He also said officials would discuss “what else can be done to provide a good future for agriculture.”
Leaders of the parliamentary groups from the three ruling parties are scheduled to meet with farmers’ representatives, but officials are dampening hopes that subsidy cuts will be abolished.
The tax cut plan was born out of the need to fill a gaping hole in the 2024 budget. The farmers’ protests come at a time of growing public dissatisfaction with the center-left Scholz government, which has been subject to frequent public spat and sometimes poorly communicated protests. They are notorious for having long arguments over decisions.
Scholz acknowledged that there are concerns that go far beyond agricultural subsidies, saying crises, conflict and uncertainty about the future are making people anxious.
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