Fuels, stop excise cut? Here is how much petrol and diesel cost in other countries

Three months of war in Iran and an issue, that of fuels and government intervention to calm prices, that is still standing. But perhaps not for long. Because Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, a week before the fourth deadline for the executive's excise cut (6 June), hinted that an extension is not a foregone conclusion this time. 'To date,' he said, 'we have not planned another intervention on excise duties. Also because in between should come the response from Brussels to Italia, which has asked for more flexibility on the Stability Pact on energy.

Meanwhile, let us take stock of previous episodes. The excise duty rebate was first put in place with the Council of Ministers on 18 March: 24.4 cents per litre less for both petrol and diesel. This was the case until 1 May (inclusive). Then, from 2 to 22 May, the cut remained identical for diesel and was increased to 6.1 cents per litre for green. From 23 May to 6 June, on the other hand, the intervention on petrol was not touched but that on diesel was halved (-12.2 cents). Total cost: about EUR 2 billion.

From the trend, however, it is clear that the aim is to reduce the size of the government 'hand'. Doing so, this is also clear, in a progressive way, to avoid sudden shocks at the petrol pumps. Thus, today, we arrive at an average petrol price of 1.960 euro per litre and a diesel price of 2.041 euro. How are other European countries doing?

The European Commission's weekly bulletin helps us to respond. Published on 28 May, it reports data from member countries updated to 25 May. Let's focus on petrol: Italia's price (1.960 euro per litre) is eighth in the Union, in a ranking led by Denmark (2.5 e/l), the Netherlands (2.387 e/l) and Finland (2.187 e/l). But also ahead of our country are Germany (2.025 e/l) and France (2.108 e/l). A situation that would remain virtually identical even without the 6.1 cents per litre discount: Italia would, in practice, be closer to Germany, but would still have cheaper petrol than France. Very far behind, however, is Spain (1.568 e/l)

Chapter diesel (the most critical given the prices). Italia is sixth (2.041 e/l), but in this case the still active discount is 'cumbersome'. Without the cut, one could estimate a 2.163 euro per litre, i.e. the fourth highest price of the Twenty-Seven. Ahead would only be Finland (2.319 e/l), the Netherlands (2.263) and Denmark (2.222). The like-minded Italians would all be behind. France would be the closest (2.125 e/l), followed by Germany (1.936 e/l) and distant Spain (1.685 e/l).