German farmers descend on Berlin with tractors in protest against plans to scrap diesel tax break

The protest caps off a week-long demonstration against a plan to cut farmers' fuel subsidies.

Transcript

00:00 German farmers blocked the main motorway access roads in some parts of the country on Monday.

00:06 It`s the start of a week of protests against the government plan to eliminate tax benefits

00:11 for farmers. In Berlin, hundreds of tractors blocked the main access to the Brandenburg

00:17 Gate. Protests planned for the next seven days include rallies that will disrupt traffic

00:22 in several regions.

00:23 Farmers are promising to block the roads for the next eight days, despite the German government

00:28 revising the 2024 budget that sparked these protests in the first place. The changes will

00:34 see agricultural diesel subsidies reduced over the next two years before ending in 2026.

00:39 But farmers say this is not enough.

00:43 "The federal government is imposing a tax increase on the only sector that works climate

00:54 neutral, namely agriculture. We use solar energy mainly. Sold as a reduction of climate

01:02 harmful subsidies. This is so completely wrong."

01:06 The ruling coalition led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz infuriated farmers last month with plans

01:12 to abolish the car tax exemption for agricultural vehicles and tax breaks on diesel fuel.

01:17 [WHOOSH]