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PROTESTS

Where German farmers are blocking roads on Wednesday

Drivers can expect severe disruption around Germany on Wednesday as farmers take to the roads in another round of protests.

Published: 31 January 2024 10:48 CET
Farmers protest Saxony-Anhalt
A tractor parks next to a bonfire in the early morning on Wednesday near Werningrode in Saxony-Anhalt. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Matthias Bein

On Wednesday, farmers will stage another day of mass action to express their anger at the government’s planned cuts to agricultural subsidies.

Once again, tractor blockades are set to be a central feature of the protests, spelling misery for motorists who plan on using the Autobahn.  

The latest round of protests against planned austerity measures will severely restrict access to the motorways in and around towns and cities, the farmers’ association announced on Wednesday.

In Bavaria, the association called on farmers to join demonstrations between 9am and 3pm on motorways throughout the state.

According to local administrators, at least 18 motorway entrances were due to be blocked on Wednesday, though exits were set to remain clear.

READ ALSO: EU to begin talks with farming leaders after wave of farmers’ protests around Europe

At least seven motorway slip roads were cordoned off around Munich alone, with disruption stretching from Garmisch-Patenkirchen in the south to Hof in the north. 

Similar protests were also planned in the eastern states of Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, as well as in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. 

In Thuringia, the blockades on motorway access roads were scheduled between 8am and 1pm on Wednesday, with police predicting considerable delays for drivers.

“As in previous weeks, we ask that the blockades be organised peacefully and that the instructions of the local law enforcement authorities be followed,” said Thuringia’s farmers’ president Klaus Wagner in a statement.

In Saxony-Anhalt, meanwhile, blockades are expected on the A2, A9, A14, A36, A38 and A143, including on routes running into Madgeburg, Halle and Stendal. 

Farmers protest Saxony-Anhalt

Farmers block motorways near Halle in Saxony-Anhalt. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Matthias Bein

According to the farmers, brief openings will be permitted at intervals, depending on the local traffic. 

Between 7am and 9am on Wednesday morning, around 20 farmers also blocked bridges along the A19 and A20 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, disrupting traffic south of Rostock and along the northern coastline. 

Isolated protests are also planned in other states. 

What are the farmers protesting about?

With this latest round of protests, the farmers’ association want to place pressure on the government ahead of the final vote on the 2024 budget, which is due to take place this week.

In an attempt to plug and multi-billion-euro hole in the national budget, the traffic light coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Free Democrats (FDP) had announced plans to slash subsidies for agricultural businesses.

This led to an outpouring of anger in the farming community, who claim they are facing an existential threat after years of neglect. 

READ ALSO: Why are German farmers so angry?

So far the government has held firm on plans to cut farming subsidies, though they did agree to bring in a proposed cut on agricultural diesel subsidies later than originally planned. 

Now, the farmers’ association is calling not only for a reversal of the proposed budget cuts, but also new relief measures for the industry as a means of rebuilding trust.  

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TRAVEL NEWS

How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

As European travellers prepare for the introduction of enhanced passport checks known as the Entry & Exit System (EES), many readers have asked us what this means for the '90-day rule' for non-EU citizens.

Published: 1 May 2024 07:18 CEST
How do the EU's new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

From the start date to the situation for dual nationals and non-EU residents living in the EU, it’s fair to say that readers of The Local have a lot of questions about the EU’s new biometric passport check system known as EES.

You can find our full Q&A on how the new system will work HERE, or leave us your questions HERE.

And one of the most commonly-asked questions was what the new system changes with regards to the 90-day rule – the rule that allows citizens of certain non-EU countries (including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to spend up to 90 days in every 180 in the EU without needing a visa.

And the short answer is – nothing. The key thing to remember about EES is that it doesn’t actually change any rules on immigration, visas etc.

Therefore the 90-day rule continues as it is – but what EES does change is the enforcement of the rule.

90 days 

The 90-day rule applies to citizens of a select group of non-EU countries;

Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, El Salvador, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Macau, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela.

Citizens of these countries can spend up to 90 days in every 180 within the EU or Schengen zone without needing a visa or residency permit.

People who are citizens of neither the EU/Schengen zone nor the above listed countries need a visa even for short trips into the EU – eg an Indian or Chinese tourist coming for a two-week holiday would require a visa. 

In total, beneficiaries of the 90-day rule can spend up to six months in the EU, but not all in one go. They must limit their visits so that in any 180-day (six month) period they have spent less than 90 days (three months) in the Bloc.

READ ALSO How does the 90-day rule work?

The 90 days are calculated according to a rolling calendar so that at any point in the year you must be able to count backwards to the last 180 days, and show that you have spent less than 90 of them in the EU/Schengen zone.

You can find full details on how to count your days HERE.

If you wish to spend more than 90 days at a time you will have to leave the EU and apply for a visa for a longer stay. Applications must be done from your home country, or via the consulate of your home country if you are living abroad.

Under EES 90-day rule beneficiaries will still be able to travel visa free (although ETIAS will introduce extra changes, more on that below).

EES does not change either the rule or how the days are calculated, but what it does change is the enforcement.

Enforcement

One of the stated aims of the new system is to tighten up enforcement of ‘over-stayers’ – that is people who have either overstayed the time allowed on their visa or over-stayed their visa-free 90 day period.

At present border officials keep track of your time within the Bloc via manually stamping passports with the date of each entry and exit to the Bloc. These stamps can then be examined and the days counted up to ensure that you have not over-stayed.

The system works up to a point – stamps are frequently not checked, sometimes border guards incorrectly stamp a passport or forget to stamp it as you leave the EU, and the stamps themselves are not always easy to read.

What EES does is computerise this, so that each time your passport is scanned as you enter or leave the EU/Schengen zone, the number of days you have spent in the Bloc is automatically tallied – and over-stayers will be flagged.

For people who stick to the limits the system should – if it works correctly – actually be better, as it will replace the sometimes haphazard manual stamping system.

But it will make it virtually impossible to over-stay your 90-day limit without being detected.

The penalties for overstaying remain as they are now – a fine, a warning or a ban on re-entering the EU for a specified period. The penalties are at the discretion of each EU member state and will vary depending on your personal circumstances (eg how long you over-stayed for and whether you were working or claiming benefits during that time).

ETIAS 

It’s worth mentioning ETIAS at this point, even though it is a completely separate system to EES, because it will have a bigger impact on travel for many people.

ETIAS is a different EU rule change, due to be introduced some time after EES has gone live (probably in 2025, but the timetable for ETIAS is still somewhat unclear).

It will have a big impact on beneficiaries of the 90-day rule, effectively ending the days of paperwork-free travel for them.

Under ETIAS, beneficiaries of the 90-rule will need to apply online for a visa waiver before they travel. Technically this is a visa waiver rather than a visa, but it still spells the end of an era when 90-day beneficiaries can travel without doing any kind of immigration paperwork.

If you have travelled to the US in recent years you will find the ETIAS system very similar to the ESTA visa waiver – you apply online in advance, fill in a form and answer some questions and are sent your visa waiver within a couple of days.

ETIAS will cost €7 (with an exemption for under 18s and over 70s) and will last for three years.

Find full details HERE. 

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