The Union wants to receive subsidies for fossil agricultural diesel. To do this, it blocks the law and takes the economy hostage.
Blackmail: Markus Söder (CSU) pushes for a deal on agricultural diesel Photo: Peter Kneffel/dpa
The blocking by the Union of the Law on Growth Opportunities in the Federal Council is irresponsible. For example, Bavarian CSU Prime Minister Markus Söder makes his approval conditional on the traffic light coalition renouncing the planned abolition of the agricultural diesel subsidy. On the other hand, the SPD-led state governments will probably soon abandon their resistance if the law costs them less than previously planned.
The thing is like this: with 440 million euros for the agricultural sector with only 1 percent of the active population, the Union wants to avoid an annual relief of between 3,000 and 7,000 million euros for the entire economy. This means that subsidies for energy efficiency measures are also at risk. However, these investments are essential in the face of accelerating climate change.
Subsidizing fossil fuels for tractors, on the other hand, harms the climate. If farmers had to pay more for fuel, many of them would use, for example, cheaper tractors with systems to adjust tire pressure to the ground.
Above all, agricultural technology manufacturers would be more motivated to develop machines with more climate-friendly drives. The state-funded Agriculture Technology and Construction Steering Board estimates that about half of the fuel used on farms could potentially be replaced by electrification.
Batteries in powerful machines like combine harvesters will remain too large for the foreseeable future. But there are many activities that require less performance. However, until now the supply of this type of electric machines has been small, also because the demand is too low due to cheap diesel.
Almost no farm would go bankrupt if it stopped receiving the diesel subsidy. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the 155,000 companies that apply for agricultural diesel subsidies receive an average of just under 2,800 euros per year. 40 percent of all farms do not receive a cent of this subsidy, so they should not lose anything.