Il cut in excise duties on fuels launched by the Draghi government it will not return, but there will be "transparency" measures and a cap on petrol and diesel increases for motorway distributors. This was established on Tuesday evening by the Council of Ministers meeting in order to put a stop to the increase in the cost of petrol and diesel which is impacting on citizens' pockets.
Petrol and diesel - what's going on
Until December 31, 2022, one was in effect "discount" on excise duties that affect fuel. The Draghi government had introduced it in an attempt to calm the price increases that began with the explosion of Russia's war in Ukraine. However, the Meloni government has decided to do not renew the excise cut. The reason? It costs 1 billion euros a month and the money to finance the measure is no longer there, said Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti clearly.
Since the beginning of the year, therefore, prices have skyrocketed, an increase that the Government has attributed to a alleged "speculation", but which in reality is mainly due to the non-renewal of the discounts in force last year. On the basis of the latest monitoring by the Ministry of the Environment, in fact, currently the average prices applied are in line with increases resulting from increases in excise duties.
According to the Guardia di Finanza, the speculation, if any, would not concern so much the distributors at the pump but the entire supply chain, starting with the oil companies. Republic in fact, he reports that, in particular, inventories would have ended up under scrutiny, which would make it possible to profit from increases at the right time and to influence the dynamics of price formation. The commander general of the Guardia di Finanza would have reported it yesterday, general Joseph Zafarana to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti during a summit at Palazzo Chigi. Even the president of the Antitrust, Roberto Rustichelli, wrote to Zafarana, asking "to acquire the documentation relating to the recent controls carried out on fuel prices, with particular reference to the violations ascertained".
Petrol and diesel: the new rules imposed by the Government
The Government has decided to impose by decree some rules aimed at curbing the alleged speculation in progress on fuel prices.
Which? The first concerns the obligation for distributors to also display the selling price of fuels next to them the national average price which is published every day by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy. By being able to compare the figures, customers will be able to see whether distributors are speculating on petrol and diesel prices or not. In the event of a violation, sanctions are envisaged which may go as far as a suspension of the activity for 7-90 days in the event of a recurrence.
The Government has also established a strengthening of the links “between the Price Guarantor (also known as Mister Pricei, ed.) and the Antitrust, to supervise and repress speculative conduct in the bud”, and will increase collaboration between the Guarantor and the Guardia di Finanza. The establishment of a "Rapid Warning Commission for Price Surveillance" is planned.
Cap on prices on the motorway and extension of petrol vouchers
With a further provision that will arrive shortly, the Government will impose a cap on increases for motorway petrol stationswhere generally higher fuel prices are applied.
They were finally extended until the end of March i petrol vouchers for a maximum value of 200 euros for employees. They will be disbursed, as expected in 2022, in the form of a "fringe benefit" and cannot be taxed.
The reaction of the managers
The statements made in recent days by some government ministers and the decisions taken on Tuesday by the Council of Ministers have infuriated the managers of the distributors, who strongly reject the accusation of speculating on fuel prices.
“The government wants deflect responsibility for an unpopular measure, as is the increase in excise duties, unloading it on a category of distributors who have no responsibility as confirmed by the institutional databases: there is no deviation of the fuel price compared to the consolidated trend and to the averages monitored by the European Union”, said the president of Assopetroli, Andrea Rossetti clearly: “The government must take responsibility of this choice without blaming the distribution operators who have simply incorporated the tax increase into the sales prices”, he added.
