Every day, the correspondents’ club describes how the same news story is illustrated in other countries.
At the end of a meeting in Matignon, Tuesday September 26, between the Prime Minister and players in the sector, the French government highlighted nearly 120,000 operations at cost price on the sale of fuels, at least until at the end of the year. For motorists, the difference at the pump should remain modest: 2 to 4 cents less per liter. Among our neighbors, in Germany and Spain, aid is being reduced or disappearing.
In Germany, there is no longer any question of intervening on fuel prices
In Germany, in 2022, the price of fuel had approached 2.50 euros per liter. The increase forced Berlin to react, with a reduction in fuel tax of 30 cents per liter of diesel and 14 cents for gasoline. A measure limited in time, from June to August 2022, but costly for the federal budget. For the moment, there is no question for the Minister of Finance to intervene on the price of fuel, while Berlin is aiming for a return to budgetary orthodoxy for 2024.
In Germany, the price of fuel is increasing, with an average increase of 14 cents in four weeks. It costs 1.80 euros for a liter of diesel, 1.86 for gasoline. The increase in pump prices is expected to continue. The government had planned to increase the CO2 tax from next January. The amount must increase from 30 to 40 euros per tonne to 50 euros in 2025.
In Spain, aid, reserved for professionals, is increasingly slim
In Spain, there was a system similar to what was happening in France with a 20 cent discount at the pump. It ended on January 1st. Since then, there has been aid reserved for professionals: truckers, taxi or VTC drivers, but also farmers and fishermen. First 20 cents, then 10 cents since April 1st. And on October 1, the subsidy will only be 5 cents per liter, until December 31, unless further extended.
The price still remains significantly lower in Spain than in France: around 20 cents less on unleaded 95, around 25 cents on diesel. The explanation for the difference is taxes. Member States of the European Union have room to set the rates applied to fuels. In Spain, compulsory deductions represent around 40% of the price of a liter of fuel, in France, it is around 50%.