BERLIN (AP) – This week began and ended with the long drive in front of Berlin’s historic Brandenburg Gate, packed with heavy vehicles honking their horns in protest – Farmers on Monday And truck drivers on Friday.
Such demonstrations highlight Germany’s deep frustration with the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which… came to power Just over two years old with a progressive and modernizing agenda, but has come to be seen by many as dysfunctional and incapable.
It is struggling to juggle multiple crises and juggle lofty goals, such as transforming Europe’s largest economy to meet climate goals and investing in neglected infrastructure while meeting Germany’s strict self-imposed rules on debt accumulation.
Schulz acknowledges concerns that extend beyond the cuts to diesel tax breaks for farmers.
“I believe that crises and conflicts create uncertainty in general,” he said in a video message last weekend. “Many worry: What will happen next? What will the future hold for me? All of this prompts some to express this out loud.”
However, the Chancellor himself is facing criticism for his handling of an unwieldy issue Three-party alliance And poor communication. While his government does not appear to be in danger at the moment and Germany’s next parliamentary elections will not be scheduled until the fall of 2025, it is not clear how it can turn around the decline in opinion polls.
The government points to its successes, including preventing the post-Russia energy crisis And cutting off its gas supply to Germany.
But more often than not, the combination of two center-left parties and a pro-business rival has angered Germans Bickering all along Due to projects that are not well explained and sometimes raise concerns about new costs – in particular a plan for replacement Fossil fuel heating systems With green alternatives. On top of that comes frustration with inflation over the past two years.
Opinion polls show little confidence in Schulz and his government and widespread sympathy for farmers’ protests against cuts in tax breaks on their diesel – which stem from the latest major debacle to hit the embattled coalition.
November Court dicision It has knocked down a key pillar of the government’s funding and left it scrambling to fill a gaping hole in this year’s budget. It sought to bypass German debt rules by reallocating 60 billion euros ($65.3 billion) that were originally meant to mitigate the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic in order to take measures to help fight climate change and modernize the country.
As part of her plan to Fill the voidThe government will remove the car tax exemption for agricultural vehicles and tax breaks on diesel used in agriculture, coalition leaders said. Amidst opposition even from the Minister of Agriculture Watering itSaying that the car tax exemption will be maintained and that the reductions in tax exemptions will be phased in over three years.
That did not please well-organized German farmers, who continued a week of protests that culminated in Berlin on Monday. More of that seems likely.
“Our farmers are disappointed, they are disappointed that they have not been heard, and they cannot understand why they are burdened more in European competition,” Joachim Rockweed, head of the German Farmers Association, said on Friday.
Rockweed said his organization will try to win lawmakers’ support in talks over the next two weeks, but there will still be smaller-scale “actions” by farmers to make their point.
Other groups facing their own challenges sympathized with or joined some farmers’ demonstrations. They included road transport and hospitality associations, with the latter facing a rise in VAT on dining out from the 7% rate it was reduced to during the pandemic to a full 19%.
Organizers of a truckers’ demonstration on Friday called for an increase in highway tolls for trucks and to protest carbon pricing. Germany tax CO2 emissions from fuels were increased by more than previously planned this month, another consequence of the budget crisis.
Critics say Schulz, a confident but often taciturn leader, is unhelpful with his style.
“Why the chancellor thinks he can convince people through stubborn silence is not clear to me,” former Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said in an interview with the Augsburger Allgemeine daily, considering that Schulz is “harming himself.”
The far right was one of the beneficiaries of this bad mood Alternative to Germany The party has gained over the past year. It currently ranks second in national opinion polls – behind the main center-right opposition bloc, but ahead of the parties in Schulz’s coalition. European Parliament elections are scheduled for June, and three state-level elections are scheduled for September.
There was some concern about the far-right exploiting the demonstrations.
Far right The same sparked a series of protests this week after a report that The extremists met recently To discuss the deportation of millions of immigrants, including some who hold German citizenship.
“Everyone is now called to take a clear stand for solidarity and tolerance for the GDR,” Schulz said on Friday.
