Comment: A ministry with a propaganda department?

Comment: A ministry with a propaganda department?

Susanne Günther (Schillipaeppa)*

Photo credit: Nsey Benajah/Unsplash

My note: And in France?

Green Week [Grüne Woche] ended this weekend in Berlin [le 28 janvier 2023]. For Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir, it was the first Green Week in this post, due to Covid. It was also the first time that a federal agriculture minister from the Greens was faced with a demonstration We’re fed up! » (on is fed up!). The fact is interesting, because this event is massively subsidized by funds from the Federal Ministry of the Environment (BMUV), also led by Greens.

The parliamentary group ofAlliance 90/The Greens showed tact: instead of joining the procession as in previous years, there was a photo opportunity in front of the building of the Reichstag with a statement on Green Week; the protest was not even mentioned by a hashtag:

Since yesterday, it’s Green Week. That is why we give a signal for better animal husbandry, sustainable agriculture and greater planning certainty for farms. A step has already been taken with the labeling of animals. Others will follow! (Source)

On the other hand, Minister Özdemir, when receiving the note of protest in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, associated himself with the objectives of the movement ” We’re fed up! » and even thanked the protesters. He even went so far as to ask for active support for the electoral campaign

« So please make sure next time we don’t have 14%, but more. We can then impose more. »

This state of affairs has a little flavor if we look at how the organization of the event ” We’re fed up! » is financed: if you click on ” demo office » (boffice of the event) on the movement websitewe land on the project “ my farming » (mwe agriculture). On the campaign websitewe then find the following passage:

« Countryside “my farming” is a project of Environment & Development Forum under the legal responsibility of German nature conservation ring. Both organizations are part of the vast network of supporters and promoters. »

According to the federal budget, the German nature conservation association (German Nature Conservation Association) will receive a grant in the amount of 1.963 million euros in 2023. The explanation for this post is as follows:

« The German Nature Conservation Association V is the umbrella organization of around 100 environmental and nature protection associations. It is responsible for coordinating their work in this area and for maintaining liaison with the federal government. »

Section 16 (BMUV), page 13

Every year the BMUV publish what is called the Green Book to explain his own draft departmental budget. This position is explained in more detail there:

« The field of activity of DNR includes since 1992 the project position of the “Environment and Development Forum“. The Forum, which is in principle open to all environmental, development and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs), has become over the years, under the aegis of the DNR, a competent and recognized coordination body of German NGOs for important issues of international environmental and development policy. Since the 2004 budget year, the project item has been integrated into the institutional support of the DNR and presented separately accordingly in the economic plan of the DNR. »

ibid.p. 40

It continues as follows:

« The work of the DNR in 2023 focuses on its contribution to

[…]

– An agricultural policy that follows the model of peasant and ecological agriculture and that preserves biodiversity and cultural landscapes;

[…]

The activities planned for the implementation of these general objectives include the following:

– Intensive support for the tasks of the federal government in the field of environmental policy;

[…]

– Organization of events and advocacy trips to Brussels, Strasbourg or Paris;

[…] »

ibid.p. 40-41

There is nothing there on the organization of a demonstration which can claim a signal effect at the national level, but there is a table in the Green Book (p. 19) which nevertheless indicates 17.75 positions, the figures of the two lines having probably been reversed. In comparison with the federal budget, the amounts are reversed, so that the DNR should instead have 18 positions:

The Demonstration Office We’re fed up! » and the campaign « my farming » have their premises at the address « Marienstrasse 19-21 “. Besides the Environment and Development Forumthe DNRthe Funding Association for Organic Farming Berlin-Brandenburg eV (UP)the Federation of Organic Food Industry eV (BÖLW), the Genetic engineering information service (genetic engineering information service), the initiative ” Save our Seeds », the two projects of the Foundation for the Future of Agriculture of the bank GLSas well as the Berlin offices of the organic farming association organic land and of Greenpeace have their headquarters there.

In short, a minister applauds a ” movement whose management is almost entirely paid for by the house of a party friend, namely the BMUV by Steffi Lemke. Who knows: maybe that’s where the leader’s reluctance to bite comes from. BMEL This year. ” We’re fed up! » been much less tender with the predecessors from the ranks of the CDU/CSU.

_______________

* I studied philosophy, I am a writer by training and I landed in the countryside a good ten years ago. I write here what worries me when I’m not cleaning the pony stable, looking for goalie gloves, dealing with huge amounts of food or laundry or trying to snatch weeds faster than they grow.

Source : Comment: Ministry with a propaganda department? – schillipaeppa.net