Politicians from the CDU and SPD have urged Federal Economy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) to introduce the planned Austrian-style model for limiting petrol price increases as early as next week.
Gas stations will only be allowed to raise diesel and petrol prices once a day, as Federal Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) announced on Wednesday. Price reductions, however, will be permitted at any time. In addition, Germany is releasing a portion of its emergency reserves and tightening market oversight.
Germany is now adopting a model for fuel prices at the pumps that is already in place in Austria. This is to be introduced "as quickly as possible," the minister said. This will require changes to antitrust law, which her ministry has already been working on. "We are examining whether we can implement this regulation earlier, possibly through another ongoing legislative process."
The "once-a-day rule" must be implemented "if possible as early as next week," said Armand Zorn, Deputy Chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, in an interview with Bild (Thursday edition). "If the Ministry of Economy cannot regulate this by ordinance, our MPs would immediately agree to a legislative amendment," he added.
Sepp Müller, Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, also pressed for swift implementation. "We will move quickly into implementation and accompany this closely in the task force over the medium term," he told Bild. "In the short term, we expect prices to be dampened by tapping into the oil reserve."
Saxony-Anhalt's Minister-President Sven Schulze (CDU) likewise called on the federal government to bring the plan into force next week. "Berlin must not kick this issue down the road," he told Bild. The federal government must "make this a priority and take the decision by next week at the latest."
Rasmus Vöge, a CDU member of the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament, told Bild: "The German Bundestag put up a rescue umbrella for banks within a matter of days." The same should now be possible for German motorists, he argued. "The new rule should come into force by the end of next week at the latest."
Oil prices, and consequently prices for petrol and diesel, have risen sharply since the outbreak of the Iran war at the end of February. Mineral oil companies have been accused of passing on excessive price increases to consumers. According to the ADAC, the nationwide average price for a litre of petrol most recently stood at €2.045, while diesel was considerably more expensive at €2.188 per litre. Fuel prices have barely responded to the initial decline in global crude oil market prices recorded on Tuesday.
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