Cem Özdemir as Federal Minister of Agriculture is a chance
Link to the original German press release:
Translation with permission of Simon Michel-Berger
Simon Michel-Berger, agrarheute , Saturday, 27.11.2021 -
A commentary by agrarheute editor-in-chief Simon Michel-Berger.
Cem Özdemir as Federal Minister of Agriculture is a chance
The Greens have announced that Cem Özdemir is to lead the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in a traffic light coalition. In the light of the coalition agreement, this is an opportunity for agriculture. But only if all sides, including the opposition, do their part.
I think there is a chance that Cem Özdemir should become the new Federal Minister of Agriculture. He is certainly not an agricultural expert. But as a minister you don't have to be, as long as you are willing to familiarize yourself with the matter. One may have one's political views on Bündnis 90 /Die Grünen, but for the first time in years we have a political heavyweight in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. . Özdemir won a direct mandate in Baden-Württemberg with a very respectable 39.9% of the first votes. He has long been considered a ministerial trustee. He is a real, not an unreal dreamer.
Why is Cem Özdemir going to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture?
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture is not considered a less popular job in political Berlin. It is said that farmers are seldom satisfied and that tips on healthy nutrition do not regarded by the mass media. But Cem Özdemir wants to make more of himself politically. Why is he going to the Ministry of Agriculture and not, say, to the Federal Ministry of the Environment, like the politically much lighter Steffi Lemke? Certainly not because of the prospect of more demonstrations by angry farmers due to the renewed tightening of the fertiliser ordinance. He could make a name for himself with a restructuring of the food base that would provide farmers with a fair income while at the same time improving environmental and climate protection. But this will only work if he takes the complexity of the industry into account.
What is hair-raising in the coalition agreement on agricultural policy
Admittedly, there are some rather hair-raising issues in the coalition agreement. At one point it says that the "authorisation of plant protection products [...] must be carried out transparently and in a legally secure manner according to scientific criteria", shortly followed by: "We will take glyphosate off the market by the end of 2023". Where are the transparent, scientific criteria in this announcement? Or does something different apply to a new authorisation than to the extension of an authorisation? Another example: "We promote forestry that is gentle on the soil, e.g. with plough horses [...]". Logging with horses is all well and good. But Cem Özdemir should have a hard time selling such content as the modernisation Germany has been waiting for. The announcement: "We are transferring parts of animal protection law to criminal law and increasing the maximum penalty" does not help to increase farmers' confidence in the new policy either.
Why the old battle term "agricultural turnaround" is missing
But the coalition agreement also contains useful issues. The old Green fighting term "Agrarwende" (“agricultural turnaround”), which can still be found on the website of the Bundestag parliamentary group, does not appear once in the entire text. There is no explicit reference to the Future Commission on Agriculture, but the whole document is fully compatible with its recommendations. Only a few weeks ago, Renate Künast, chief negotiator for the Greens on agriculture in the coalition agreement, said that livestock numbers in Germany should be halved by 2035 at the latest. There is nothing more to be found of this in the final agreement. Even from within her own camp, Künast was asked to read the report of the Future Commission. This seems to have happened in the meantime. If the fundamentalists (fundis) are put in their place, realists (realos) like Cem Özdemir have a chance.
Things that make sense for agriculture in the coalition agreement
The coalition agreement contains a number of issues that can be implemented in the interests of agriculture. Three examples:
- The duration of approval procedures is to be at least halved. This must also apply to the approval of new plant protection
products.
- There should be affordable and innovative mobility for everyone in town and country. Agriculture must not be excluded
from this if the agricultural diesel subsidy is to disappear.
- The planned investment premium for climate protection must also be open to farmers. The demand in the coalition
agreement to activate more private capital for transformation projects also applies to them. At the same time, financial
market regulation must not be used to create new burdens for agriculture. No one needs sleight of hand.
On these and many other points, the opposition, the professional associations and the press play an important role. They must not allow the new federal government to forget farmers, withdraw into room for interpretation and say: "That's not what was meant in the coalition agreement". If necessary, the new Federal Minister of Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, must also be reminded of this again and again. Therefore, he must not give in to the fundamentalists (fundis) in his own party in the future.
What is the chance for agriculture under Cem Özdemir?
It has been a long time since environmental and agricultural policy in Germany were in the hands of the same political party. In the best-case scenario, under Cem Özdemir there will be a reform like Agenda 2010 under Gerhard Schröder: a reform that creates a fair balance of interests between the party's own and other clientele and that lays the foundation for confidence and modernisation in agriculture. The consensus of the Commission on the Future of Agriculture serves as a guideline.
Where is the greatest challenge facing the traffic light coalition?
The biggest challenge for the traffic light coalition is that it is fully committed to a strong state: More civil servants, more funding for this and that, more rules ((including reducing bureaucracy). Someone has to generate the money that the SPD, Greens and FDP want to spend. In 2022, serious debts are to be incurred again and then no more. Private investment, that the traffic light coalition wants to promote, needs confidence and stable framework conditions. If the new federal government scares the economy, it will fail with its goals. Agriculture is only a small sector of the economy. But it is an ideal testing field to show whether it is possible to (re)win the confidence of the business community. If you don't succeed on a small scale, you won't succeed on a large scale. The new Federal Minister of Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, should also keep this in mind.
Translated by Kl.-D. Jany