Berlin/Halle – Meat, butter, milk – everything has to get more expensive? Not with him!
Federal Minister of Agriculture Alois Rainer (60, CSU) delivered powerful words to BILD – and gave Leopoldina advice that meat and other animal products be given higher priority VAT Making it much more expensive is an obvious cop-out.
Those in the Hall (Saxony-Anhalt) national population Academy of Sciences Leopoldina has this week published a position paper. In it, experts call for VAT on meat, sausages, butter and cheese to be raised from the current seven to 19 percent. Reason: This food production is dangerous for the climate, Environment and biodiversity. In return, plant-based products will become cheaper.
Food has become 30 percent more expensive
But that one CSU-The minister hit back sharply: “In their coalition agreement, the Union and the SPD rejected tax increases. The federal government also did not give any instructions to the public about what they should eat,” he said through a spokesman.
Federal Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer (60, CSU) – himself an expert on butchery – clearly rejected the experts’ plans
Rainer (a trained butcher) made it clear what his duties were Nutrition These include: “In addition to fruit, vegetables and fish, also meat.” And he has repeatedly emphasized since he took office in May: “My job is not to set price tags in supermarkets.” Its mission is to create fair conditions. “I want food to remain affordable – without endangering the foundations of our social market economy.”
He is concerned that food prices have increased by more than 30 percent since 2020. Therefore, consumers are very concerned about prices. “Then you can’t make meat more expensive with additional government costs such as VAT increases or animal welfare taxes. I reject both.”
In contrast, researcher Leopoldina argues that higher prices will reduce consumption of animal products. That helps the climate.
Leopoldina also advises the federal government. But after the minister’s declaration of power, the black-red coalition under Chancellor Friedrich Merz (70, CDU) could hardly follow the scientists’ advice.
