Farmers Protests Risk Upending 2024 Budget

The deal brokered between the three parties of the governing federal coalition on the 2024 budget already risks coming apart at the seams amid protests from German farmers that have garnered support from without and within the 'traffic light' coalition. The protests, which saw over 1,700 tractors block the main route to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, come as a result of the gov'ts plan to remove subsidies on agricultural diesel.

• The plan had enough support from Chancellor Olaf Scholz's centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), the environmentalist Greens, and the pro-business liberal Free Democrats (FDP) to be included in the budget. However, since the immediate and vocal pushback from farmers interest groups Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir from the Greens and FDP leader and Finance Minister Christian Lindner have voiced reservations and said that alternatives would try to be found.
• The German gov't may feel some trepidation after farmers protests in reaction to gov't policies on nitrogen emmissions in the neighbouring Netherlands saw a rise in support in a new populist agrarian party. This laid some of the groundwork for the strong performance of anti-establishment parties in the November general election.
• The budget still has to pass in the Bundestag, and with different party factions criticising various parts of the proposed package it could prove a difficult path to implementation for the gov't.