Story by DPA International • 13h •
Bernhard Kruesken, Secretary General of the German Farmers' Association
© DPA International
The German Farmers' Association (DBV) has signalled its willingness to reach an agreement in the dispute over the tax exemption for agricultural diesel, saying it will not insist on the subsidy being retained in full.
"We are prepared to compromise if, in return for additional fuel costs, there is real relief in other areas," DBV Secretary General Bernhard Krüsken told the newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
"We don't want to pretend to our members that whoever shouts the loudest will be heard the best."
The conservative opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) parliamentary group in the German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, is calling for a swift agreement.
"It is advisable to accommodate the farmers now - not only for reasons of content, but also to remove the basis for any radicalization tendencies of individuals who do not represent the broad mass of peacefully protesting farmers," said the deputy CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader Steffen Bilger.
Any possible compromise would have to be discussed with the farmers, otherwise it would miss its target, he said.
But regional farmers' groups in Saxony-Anhalt state indicated they are less willing to compromise.
Martin Dippe, President of the Farmers' Association of Saxony-Anhalt, said on Saturday that farmers did not take to the streets for months only to walk things back meekly now
In a joint statement, three regional associations in Saxony-Anhalt said they are sticking to their demand that the tax exemption is retained.
Farmers in Germany have been protesting for months by blocking traffic on motorway on-ramps and choking traffic in major cities, over government plans to scrap agricultural diesel subsidies.
The German Farmers' Association (DBV) has signalled its willingness to reach an agreement in the dispute over the tax exemption for agricultural diesel, saying it will not insist on the subsidy being retained in full.
"We are prepared to compromise if, in return for additional fuel costs, there is real relief in other areas," DBV Secretary General Bernhard Krüsken told the newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
"We don't want to pretend to our members that whoever shouts the loudest will be heard the best."
The conservative opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) parliamentary group in the German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, is calling for a swift agreement.
"It is advisable to accommodate the farmers now - not only for reasons of content, but also to remove the basis for any radicalization tendencies of individuals who do not represent the broad mass of peacefully protesting farmers," said the deputy CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader Steffen Bilger.
Any possible compromise would have to be discussed with the farmers, otherwise it would miss its target, he said.
But regional farmers' groups in Saxony-Anhalt state indicated they are less willing to compromise.
Martin Dippe, President of the Farmers' Association of Saxony-Anhalt, said on Saturday that farmers did not take to the streets for months only to walk things back meekly now
In a joint statement, three regional associations in Saxony-Anhalt said they are sticking to their demand that the tax exemption is retained.
Farmers in Germany have been protesting for months by blocking traffic on motorway on-ramps and choking traffic in major cities, over government plans to scrap agricultural diesel subsidies.
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