Germany's federal government fuel price reform package is set to be finalised by early April at the latest. "I assume that parliament will consider the draft law in a first reading this week, so that the legislative process can be completed by the end of March, or early April at the latest," Federal Economy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) said on Tuesday in Berlin. Meanwhile, the head of the Federal Cartel Office, Andreas Mundt, tempered expectations of what his authority can deliver in response to the sharp rise in fuel prices.
The planned package of measures is intended to bring "more fairness and transparency at fuel stations," among other goals. The federal government is planning to restrict fuel station operators to raising fuel prices only once per day. Price reductions, however, will remain permitted at any time.
The draft legislation also provides for a strengthening of the Federal Cartel Office. The authority will gain new powers to "quickly review and stop price markups in the wholesale sector," Reiche said. "We are reversing the burden of proof," she continued. Until now, the Cartel Office has been required to provide evidence that something is wrong with pricing, the draft proposes that companies will instead have to demonstrate how price increases came about.
Cartel Office head Andreas Mundt said on Tuesday that there is currently no indication of price agreements between companies. "I don't think the companies even need that," Mundt told rbb. "They know their competitors' prices at all times, because the markets are so transparent."
To help stabilise global market prices, the federal government also intends to release part of Germany's strategic oil reserves. This forms part of a coordinated action among member states of the International Energy Agency. The release is still subject to "a few formalities, which we will complete over the coming days," Reiche said. "After that, this measure will be published in the Federal Gazette, and implementation can then proceed step by step."
Many people are currently worried when they look at prices at the pump, the Economy Minister acknowledged, and that concern is justified. "We cannot influence world market prices, but it is quite remarkable that fuel prices here have risen more sharply than the European average," she said. The mineral oil industry had "not provided a particularly convincing answer for this effect," the CDU politician continued. "And that is why we will act."
The previous day, a taskforce of parliamentary groups from the CDU/CSU and SPD met at the Bundestag over the high diesel and petrol prices. The meeting brought together oil companies, consumer protection representatives, representatives of medium-sized businesses, and the heads of both the Federal Cartel Office and the Monopolies Commission. Following the meeting, politicians from both parliamentary groups stated that the mineral oil companies had not provided satisfactory answers regarding pricing.
The companies see it differently. Christian Küchen, Director General of the industry association Fuels and Energy, told the AFP news agency that, together with independent fuel station operators, they had "explained to the members of parliament in precise detail how prices for petrol and diesel are determined, why the oil price has always played only a secondary role in this, and that competition for every fuel customer remains fully intact even in times of crisis."
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