Fuel prices at the pumps continue to rise, and Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) now also believes that many people have reached their financial limit. “I am of the opinion that we have to act,” Merz said on Tuesday, signalling relief for citizens. The mineral oil industry, however, expects prices to return to normal only next year.
“For many people who need their cars every day, they have reached the limit of what they can afford,” Merz said at an event hosted by the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA) in Berlin. However, the Chancellor said the “exact set of measures” for providing relief had not yet been decided. “We are therefore in close consultation within the federal government and with the states.” A proposal would be presented “very soon”.
No discussions are expected at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting yet; according to reports, however, possible relief measures are at least expected to be discussed informally within the cabinet.
Fuel prices in Germany have risen noticeably in recent days. According to figures from the ADAC on Tuesday, the price of Super E10 reached another all-time high at the beginning of the week. On Monday, a litre cost an average of €2.286 nationwide. By comparison, at the beginning of September last year, the nationwide average price for a litre of E10 was still €1.655.
The price of diesel also increased. It rose by 0.8 cents to €2.412 per litre, putting it just 3.4 cents below its record from April, when a litre of diesel cost an average of €2.446 per day.
One reason for the current development is the high price of crude oil, along with damaged refineries in war zones. Oil and gas supplies are currently significantly reduced across the global market as a result of the war in Iran, not least because of disruptions to important transport routes.
The decisive factor for future price developments is “the further development, above all, in the Middle East”, said Alexander von Gersdorff, spokesman for the Fuels and Energy Association, to the Rheinische Post. “If a peace agreement were reached, fuel prices would also gradually calm down.” Even then, however, it would take until “well into 2027” for the market to fully return to normal, he added. This was because “a lot of refinery capacity has been lost”.
The discussion over relief for citizens has gained momentum again in response to the record prices. CDU consumer protection politician Sebastian Steineke, for example, called in the Handelsblatt for another temporary reduction in the energy tax to the European minimum level. During the fuel discount in May and June, the energy tax was reduced by 17 cents per litre, including VAT. However, the two-month measure also cost the government around €1.6 billion.
The German Farmers’ Association also called for a “noticeable tax cut on diesel” to help, according to farmers’ association president Joachim Rukwied, “finance the next harvest”.
Environmental groups clearly opposed another fuel discount. Such a measure would primarily benefit people “who drive a lot and use vehicles with high fuel consumption”, criticised Verena Graichen of the German Federation for Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND). Instead, she called on the federal government to introduce direct per-person payments to provide relief to lower-income groups.
Greenpeace’s Lena Donat also said that across-the-board tax cuts were the wrong approach. “The main beneficiaries would be the oil companies, which have already been making substantial excess profits for months.”
SPD Secretary-General Tim Klüssendorf reiterated his party’s call for a fuel price cap and an excess profits tax to allow the state to collect the “excessively high profits of the oil companies”. Federal Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU), on the other hand, advocated direct payments for low-income earners.
SPD parliamentary group deputy leader Armand Zorn, who is also a member of the coalition’s internal fuel price task force, told Der Spiegel that he was open to “targeted relief measures”. An excess profits tax could “create additional scope for action” here, he added.
Left Party leader Luigi Pantisano told AFP: “Nothing prevents the federal government from introducing a climate payment immediately.” An excess profits tax or a cap on profit margins could also “be put into motion this week”, he said. The climate payment, which was announced at the time by the former traffic-light coalition government, is a lump-sum payment from the state to all citizens funded by revenue from the CO₂ levy.
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