According to a newspaper report, government advisers are discussing a tax surcharge for meat products in the interests of better animal husbandry. As the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" reported, this proposal is in a draft for recommendations that the so-called competence network farm animal husbandry is currently developing on behalf of the Federal Government.

According to this, the price premium for meat products could be 40 cents per kilogram. Other animal products should also be taxed according to this proposal: 2 cents per kilo of milk, milk products and eggs and 15 cents per kilo of cheese, butter or milk powder.

According to the consultants, the additional tax revenue could be used to compensate livestock farmers for the costs of animal-friendly husbandry “to a large extent of a total of 80 to 90 percent”. This includes both the running costs for the additional effort and the promotion of the necessary conversion measures in the stables. According to "NOZ", the consultants expect billions of dollars in annual costs.

It is therefore planned that in 2040 all farm animals will live in stables that offer significantly more space and have “as much contact with the outside climate as possible”. Pigs and broilers in particular often currently live in closed stables.

A consumption tax in addition to VAT on meat products has been under discussion for some time. Most recently, Greens chairman Robert Habeck had asked the federal government to ban junk food prices. He proposed an "animal protection center" on animal products. The consumer would hardly notice this small surcharge at the checkout, argued Habeck.

Read more about the fight for food prices:

• Is there a basic right to cheap meat? A comment by Heike Jahberg
• The trade defends itself: "We don't waste food?"
• Prices as a political issue: Are 20 cents indecent for 100 grams of chicken thighs?
• Food should become more expensive: why the federal government wants to push discounters to higher prices

According to "NOZ", the competence network consisting of representatives of the agricultural sector, scientists and NGOs wants to advise the government on Friday about the draft and the final recommendations. According to the newspaper, representatives of the agricultural sector expressed skepticism about the schedule and the cost calculation.

It was only on Monday that the federal government invited the heads of Edeka, Rewe, Aldi and Lidl to a food summit in the Chancellery. The goal is to counter the price war in the industry. The government had come under pressure from peasant protests in recent weeks.