Gasoline prices are skyrocketing and countries are stepping in to reduce costs for motorists. In Germany, however, such an attempt led to the opposite: due to a new regulation, whereby prices are only allowed to increase once a day, the amounts at the pump actually increased by 5 to 6 cents.
Although prices at the pump in Germany are still lower than in the Netherlands, the price of petrol has also risen considerably there. A liter of E10 costs an average of 2.13 euros in Germany, while the price before the start of the war in Iran was around 1.75 euros.
Measures
Several countries, including Germany, announced measures to reduce prices. These were mainly excise duty cuts, which Germany also announced last week. However, the country went one step further with the measure Kraftstoffanpassungsgesetz.
This new rule means that petrol stations in the country are only allowed to increase their prices once a day. Previously this happened seven to eight times a day. By only doing it once, around noon, and then only allowing price drops during the day, drivers can better compare mutual prices and refuel as cheaply as possible.
At least, that was the thought. In practice, things turned out differently, according to new research from German research institutes. The universities of Gießen and Düsseldorf and ZEW Mannheim investigated petrol prices at around 15,000 petrol stations across the country. What turns out? The price of petrol and the profit margin for petrol stations are now 5 to 6 cents higher than before the measure.
Grand prize in the afternoon
Mainly small petrol stations increase their petrol prices significantly at noon, after which they can lower prices later in the day. As a result, you pay top price for petrol in the afternoon and it is no longer possible to refuel cheaply throughout the day.
Motorists who do not have time to refuel in the morning can therefore expect a significantly higher price. This appears to happen often, because it has caused the average price that consumers pay to rise.
Tax reduction
Germany is also introducing other measures. On Friday, the German parliament approved one temporary tax reduction on petrol and diesel. This means that both fuels will drop 17 cents in price at the pump from May 1. It is expected that the price reduction of 17 cents will not be implemented in its entirety on May 1, but will happen in phases.
According to trade associations Nove and Bovag, this measure threatens a further exodus of Dutch petrol stations, especially in the border regions. About this they are very concerned and they are even raising the alarm at the cabinet.
The Netherlands does not seem to be going along with the tax cuts. This week, ministers and coalition factions discussed a package of measures against rising energy prices. According to insiders, there is a general reduction in excise duties on petrol and diesel ‘not to be expected’.
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