Angry farmers accost Germany's Habeck despite subsidy cut rollback

Angry German farmers prevented Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck from leaving a ferry on Thursday, apparently annoyed by a row over subsidies which Berlin hoped it had countered.
The farmers blocked the jetty in Schlüttsiel in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, a police spokesman told dpa. The Green Party's Habeck, who is also Economy Minister, had to return to the island of Hooge instead where he was apparently on holiday.
A spokeswoman for Habeck told dpa that he had been happy to talk to the farmers.
"Unfortunately, the security situation did not allow for a dialogue with all farmers, and the offer made by Minister Habeck to talk to individual farmers was unfortunately not accepted," she said.
The row came after Germany's coalition government decided to gradually decrease fuel subsidies for farmers over the next couple of years, rather than cut them all at once as had been planned, a government spokesman said.
Chancellor Scholz, Habeck and Finance Minister Christian Lindner had also agreed to abandon a planned cancellation of the motor vehicle tax exemption for agriculture, the spokesman added.
The cuts were part of a package of measures intended to plug a multi-billion euro gap in the government budget following a landmark top court ruling at the end of last year that sent the coalition's financial plans into disarray.
But the original plans had triggered massive protests from farmers and were also controversial within the coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and pro-business Free Democrats (FDP).
The German Farmers' Association had called for a week of action against the planned cuts starting on Monday and stuck to the call despite the government changes.
A major demonstration is planned in Berlin on January 15. Farmers' president Joachim Rukwied said the coalition should withdraw the proposals completely.
According to the government, the rate of fuel relief for farmers will now be reduced by 40% in 2024. In 2025 and 2026, there will be a further annual reduction of 30%, meaning that there will no longer be a subsidy in 2026.
Scholz, Habeck and Lindner agreed on savings in the 2024 budget in mid-December after lengthy negotiations. Following the court's verdict, they had to plug a financial gap of around €30 billion ($32.3 billion) in the core budget.