The conflict over EU subsidies for Saxon farmers has finally been settled. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the payments have been credited to the farms' accounts since Friday. The federal treasury had transferred them on Thursday. Specifically, this involves around 241 million euros for around 7000 farms in the Free State. In addition, the compensatory allowance for disadvantaged areas will be paid out by the main treasury in Saxony by the end of January, it said.
Normally, the EU funds are transferred at the end of the year. This time there were delays due to software problems. This caused displeasure and protests among farmers. They argued that many payments, for example for insurance, are due at the end of the year. The state farmers' association even issued a kind of ultimatum and demanded the resignation or dismissal of Agriculture Minister Wolfram Günther (Greens) if the money was not paid by the end of January.
Günther: "I personally regret that there has been a loss of trust, annoyance, uncertainty and additional work. I am very grateful for the commitment of everyone involved, which has made it possible for the payments to go ahead." The software for the EU funds had to be reprogrammed because the legal basis for the current funding period was only adopted after a long delay.
