Protests by farmers and others in Germany underline deep frustration with the government

BERLIN (AP) — This week began and ended with the long road in front of Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate thronged by heavy vehicles tooting their horns in protest — farmers on Monday and truckers on Friday.

Such demonstrations underline deep frustration in Germany with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government, which came to power just over two years ago with a progressive, modernizing agenda but has come to be viewed by many as dysfunctional and incapable.

It is struggling to juggle multiple crises and reconcile lofty aims, such as transforming Europe’s biggest economy to meet climate targets and investing in neglected infrastructure while also meeting Germany’s tight self-imposed rules on running up debt.

Scholz acknowledges concerns that go beyond cuts to tax breaks on farmers’ diesel fuel.

“I think crises and conflicts are creating overall uncertainty,” he said in a video message last weekend. “Many worry: what will happen next? What will the future bring for me? All this is leading to some expressing this loudly.”

Still, the chancellor himself faces criticism for his management of an unwieldy three-party alliance and poor communication. While his government doesn’t appear to be in danger at present and Germany’s next parliamentary election isn’t due until the fall of 2025, it isn’t clear how it can turn around a slump in polls.

The government points to successes including preventing an energy crunch after Russia cut off its gas supplies to Germany.

But all too often, the combination of two center-left parties with a pro-business rival has angered Germans by bickering at length over poorly explained projects that sometimes raise fears of new costs — notably a plan to replace fossil-fuel heating systems with greener alternatives. On top of that comes frustration with inflation over the past two years.

Polls show little faith in Scholz and his government and widespread sympathy for the farmers’ protests against cuts to tax breaks on the diesel they use — which stem from the latest major woe to hit the embattled coalition.

A November court ruling struck down a major pillar of the government’s financing and left it scrambling to fill a big hole in this year’s budget. It had sought to bypass Germany’s debt rules by repurposing 60 billion euros ($65.3 billion) originally meant to cushion the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic for measures to help combat climate change and modernize the country.

As part of its plan to fill the gap, coalition leaders said the government would abolish a car tax exemption for farming vehicles and tax breaks on diesel used in agriculture. Amid pushback even from the agriculture minister, it watered that down, saying the car tax exemption would be retained and the cuts in the the tax breaks staggered over three years.

That didn’t satisfy Germany’s well-organized farmers, who pressed ahead with a week of protests that culminated in Berlin on Monday. And more appear likely.

“Our farmers are disappointed, they are disappointed that they haven’t been listened to, and they can’t understand why they should be further burdened in European competition,” Joachim Rukwied, the head of the German Farmers’ Association, said Friday.

Rukwied said his organization will attempt to win over lawmakers in talks over the next two weeks, but there will be still be smaller-scale “actions” by farmers to press their point.

Other groups facing their own challenges have sympathized with or joined in some farmers’ demonstrations. They have included road transport and hospitality associations, the latter facing a hike in value-added tax on eating out from the 7% rate it was reduced to during the pandemic to the full 19%.

Organizers of Friday’s demonstration by truck drivers called for an increase in highway tolls for trucks to be reversed and protested against carbon pricing. Germany’s levy on carbon dioxide emissions from fuel was increased by more than previously planned this month, another result of the budget crisis.

Critics say Scholz, a self-confident but often taciturn leader, isn’t helping with his style.

“Why the chancellor thinks he can convince people through dogged silence is not clear to me,” former Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer remarked in an interview with the Augsburger Allgemeine daily, arguing that Scholz “is damaging himself.”

One beneficiary of the sour mood has been the far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has gained over the past year. It is currently second in national polls — behind the main center-right opposition bloc but ahead of the parties in Scholz’s coalition. European Parliament elections are scheduled for June, and three state elections in September.

There has been some concern over the far right taking advantage of the demonstrations.

The far right itself has drawn a string of protests this week following a report that extremists recently met to discuss the deportation of millions of immigrants, including some with German citizenship.

“Everyone is called on now to take a clear stand for solidarity, for tolerance, for our democratic Germany,” Scholz said Friday.

Geir Moulson, The Associated Press