Fuel price record: Will motorists be relieved as early as October 1?

While fuel prices climb from record to record, the coalition is working on rapid relief. Union parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei wants immediate measures by October 1, as he said on RTL and ntv's 'Frühstart'. 'People don't need the prospect of relief right now; they need relief.' The SPD also wants quick measures.

Premium petrol of the E10 variety reached on Tuesday the fourth consecutive record in the nationwide daily average. One liter cost €2.30, and thus 1.4 cents more than the day before, according to ADAC. Compared with the level before the outbreak of the Iran war, the price has risen by more than 52 cents per liter. 

Diesel also rose again: €2.422 per liter, one cent more than the previous day. This further narrows the gap to the previous record of €2.447 per liter from April. Compared with the last prewar day, the price has increased by almost 68 cents per liter. And the signals for further development point upward: the fuel-price portal 'Tankerkönig' calculated slightly higher prices on Wednesday morning than at comparable times on Tuesday.

No quick relief expected

Union parliamentary group leader Frei said on "Frühstart" that he does not expect a rapid easing of the underlying causes of the high fuel prices. As possibilities for relief, he cited another cut in the energy tax modeled after the tank discount from May and June, as well as a reduction of the value-added tax on fuels from 19% to 7%. The state benefits from the high prices through the value-added tax. "Giving back a portion of that would therefore be an obvious measure."

Dennis Radtke, chairman of the CDU's CDA workers' wing, told the Funke Media Group newspapers on Wednesday: "Direct payments to people with low- and middle incomes are appropriate when they come quickly and without bureaucracy."

Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced relief for motorists on Tuesday. Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) welcomed the remarks and stressed that they must come together quickly.

Disagreement on how to proceed

This gathering could, however, prove difficult. For while the SPD, among other things, calls for a windfall profits tax and a fuel-price cap, the Union is skeptical on this. Frei rejected a windfall profits tax. Also Economy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) would rather relieve certain segments of the population directly through direct payments. According to the Finance Ministry, this is now feasible, but so far only the bank details for 19 percent of taxpayers are on file.

Additionally, there seems to be another problem: distributing the amounts according to income, as proposed by Reiche. For that, data from the tax offices would be required, which the federal government does not yet have.

IFO expert Florian Neumeier, in response to a request by dpa, spoke out against broad measures such as another fuel discount. “If the crisis lasts longer, one can discuss relieving low-income households. But that should not be done with a watering can, but with a direct transfer,” he says. “That would also benefit people who do not own a car but suffer from expensive heating oil or gas. And the important incentive to save fuel because of the high prices remains.” Moreover, a fuel discount is also environmentally problematic.

The economist is also skeptical of a price cap. He is not aware of any study showing that this would really lower prices. In addition, the actual costs of the petroleum industry would have to be determined, and that is realistically not feasible. And a windfall profits tax would also be difficult to implement and would not lead to lower fuel prices.