President Joachim Rukwied, head of the German Farmers’ Association, has called on the government to suspend the CO₂ tax on diesel, citing rising energy and input costs that are hurting farmers and other businesses.
“The policy should essentially remove the CO₂ levy on diesel” Rukwied told RTL and ntv on Monday. The current tax is about 17 to 18 cents per litre. He argues that lifting the charge would ease pressure not only on the agricultural sector but also on transport, an industry that pays significantly more for diesel than many neighbouring European countries. In peak periods diesel can be up to 0.20 € per litre higher in Germany.
When critics point out that farmers already receive a diesel subsidy from the agricultural diesel program and that a further blanket exemption could seem unfair to other sectors, Rukwied insists that the suspension must apply across the board. “I am calling for the CO₂ pricing to be suspended for all economic sectors, and I want to underline that again” he said.
He also highlighted sharply rising costs for farming inputs. Prices for nitrogen fertilizers, for instance, have jumped about 30 % in just ten days, imposing a heavy burden on many operations. Rukwied cautioned that if the economic strain persists for one to two years, the risk that many farms will be forced to shut down becomes “very large”.
