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Özdemir in conversation on the sidelines of the Agriculture Ministers' Conference: The minister promises further suggestions for relief

Photo: Martin Schutt/dpa

The federal and state agriculture ministers want to curb additional bureaucratic effort for agriculture and forestry in Germany.

The first steps will be implemented by mid-2024, said the chairwoman of the Conference of Agriculture Ministers, Thuringia's department head Susanna Karawanskij (Left), in Erfurt.

A schedule for this has been agreed with Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens).

According to Karawanskij, the federal states have put a total of 194 proposals on the table, which the federal government is now examining and for which it is drawing up a list of priorities.

In addition, it is expected that new laws will not create new “bureaucratic monsters”.

“We should move forward quickly,” said Federal Agriculture Minister Özdemir about the schedule.

“Some things are already on the way.” Among other things, it is about abolishing multiple documentation requirements or contradictory regulations due to EU and federal requirements.

Different requirements in different laws

Before the meeting, the German Farmers' Association had called for a reduction in bureaucracy.

»Our companies are being overwhelmed by bureaucracy.

“This effort costs an immense amount of time and therefore money,” criticized association president Joachim Rukwied.

On the sidelines of the conference, farmers pointed out that there are different requirements in different laws when it comes to distance regulations for water protection, for example.

Özdemir promises further suggestions for relief

After the spring meeting of the agriculture ministers, Özdemir held out the prospect of further proposals to ease the burden on agricultural businesses.

There are discussions between the federal government and the coalition factions in the Bundestag about this.

He couldn't give details yet.

But he is confident that an agreement will be reached, said Özdemir.

Saxony-Anhalt's Agriculture Minister Sven Schulze (CDU) said that he did not consider what the federal government had offered as an alternative to agricultural diesel to be sufficient.

Thuringia's department head Karawanskij expressed the expectation that biofuels and alternative drive technologies will be expanded more strongly.

“It’s also about tax relief for agricultural diesel,” she said.

The agriculture ministers of the federal states criticized what they considered to be insufficient financing for the restructuring of animal husbandry to improve animal welfare.

“We are concerned with long-term, reliable financing,” said Karawanskij.

Özdemir pointed out that a total of one billion euros has so far been made available for changes in pig farming.

“That can only be a beginning,” replied Brandenburg’s Agriculture Minister Axel Vogel (Greens).

The EU Commission also proposed relief for farmers on Friday.

kko/dpa