Tank discount: Habeck wants to tighten antitrust law

Created: 06/12/2022Updated: 06/12/2022 11:10 am

The so-called tank discount is well received by the German population.

© Felix König/dpa

The tank discount is well received.

However, because prices still do not fall as planned, the debate about possible extra profits at oil multinationals continues.

Habeck wants to get involved in antitrust law.

Berlin - According to a "Spiegel" report, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) wants to tighten antitrust law in view of the debate about the tank discount.

This should allow the state to siphon off profits and, if necessary, break up the corporations without any evidence of market abuse.

A corresponding position paper from the Ministry of Economics is available to the news magazine, it said on Sunday.

Among other things, the unbundling of the mineral oil and gas station market should be made possible.

In a further step, profits could be skimmed off more quickly by the Federal Cartel Office in favor of the state treasury.

So far, this has been subject to high hurdles.

"A right that cannot be used is not in the interests of the inventor," Habeck told the "Spiegel".

Tax cut not fully passed on

According to the minister, too, the mineral oil companies have not sufficiently passed on the reduction in energy taxes at the pump.

The Bundeskartellamt's first data sets on the tank discount show that the gap between crude oil and gas station prices has increased sharply since the beginning of the month.

"Obviously, what many experts had warned about has happened: the mineral oil companies are reaping the profits, the consumers are not noticing the tax cut," said Habeck.

Overall, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, there is a parallel behavior in the prices in the market.

The companies know about the prices of their competitors at the petrol stations because the market is very transparent.

“This means that even without an anti-trust agreement, the prices are very quickly aligned;

abuse of competition law is difficult to prove.”

Majority supports tank discount

The temporary reduction in mineral oil tax is popular with the general public.

In a survey by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the German Press Agency, 31 percent of those questioned fully endorsed the reduction.

Another 28 percent were more likely to do so.

12 percent expressed a firm rejection.

18 percent tended to reject the measure.

In order to relieve the burden on motorists in view of rising energy prices, the federal government has reduced the mineral oil tax for June to August.

The tax relief for petrol is 35.2 cents per liter and for diesel 16.7 cents.

According to this, very few people waited until the end of the month to refuel.

Only 18 percent said yes, 54 percent said no.

23 percent of those surveyed stated that they did not have a car.

The survey was conducted online between June 3rd and 7th.

The results were weighted and are representative of the German population aged 18 and over.

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Steinmeier can understand outrage at oil multinationals

Meanwhile, the debate about possible extra profits at big oil companies continues.

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier understands the outrage of many people at persistently high fuel prices despite the introduction of the fuel discount.

"I understand the resentment of the citizens when many have to limit themselves and make some extra profits," said Steinmeier of the "Bild am Sonntag" with a view to the profits of the oil companies.

“We have to take the anger seriously.

As important as it is that we tell the citizens that the state will not be able to compensate for every increase in prices, it is also important that we ensure that some people cannot take unjustified advantages from the situation.” The question of what But the government must answer with the right instrument.

dpa