Green Party political efforts to spin Germany’s ongoing farmers’ demonstrations as solely caused by profiteering supermarkets have been dismissed as a cheap diversionary tactic.
On a fourth consecutive day of protests, the Green leadership responded to the farmers by blaming the greed of the country’s major supermarket chains rather than the government’s Net Zero-related policies. Green MEP Anna Cavazzini cited “market power” as causing the low prices open to German farmers. This follows crudely engineered media smears tying the demonstrations to the ‘far right.’
The supermarket excuse was dismissed by competition economist Justus Haucap, who labelled Cavazzini’s comments as a “smokescreen” to obfuscate the role of reduced government diesel subsidies and farm equipment as a key reason for bringing farmers to the streets.
German consumers have experienced steep food inflation over the past two years. The wider European agricultural market both suffers from turbulence caused by Ukrainian imports being diverted from Russia and from the negative effects of elite green policies.
The past week has seen direct action by farmers opposed to the ruling traffic light coalition in Berlin implementing planned green initiatives, including the cuts to diesel fuel subsidies.
The protest movement is seen as a watermark moment for the fast-sinking Scholz chancellorship, with Green Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir publicly conceded farmers had good reason to take to the streets before going on to declare that the demonstrations risk creating ‘American-style’ polarisation within the country.
The rising tide of public anger against the government has impacted the Green Party in particular, with party leader and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck last week cornered by militant farmers while crossing a ferry in the port town of Schlüttsiel.
The demonstrations are expected to continue into next week with farming groups promising an escalation amid ominous warnings of a government crackdown on protests.