Dear fuels, the government's moves to defuse the crazy prices of gasoline and diesel

The government opens to the requests of the opposition to reactivate the mechanism of mobile excise duties, already provided for in 2023, to contain the surge in fuel prices, in some cases exceeding the threshold of 2 euros per liter in the wake of the war in Iran.

An increase that, in addition to immediately burdening families and businesses, risks rekindling inflation.

The issue could be addressed as early as the Council of Ministers next Tuesday for a first review of the parameters of the current regulation, while still needing to identify the related coverage.

The announcement came in the evening from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in a video message, confirming what had been anticipated earlier by Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti: “we are considering activating the mechanism of the so-called mobile excise duties, which this government has made more effective with the fuel measure of 2023, in case prices increase steadily. The mechanism, whose activation is also requested by some opposition parties, allows the use of the additional VAT portion that comes from the price increases for the reduction of excise duties.”

The government's move comes after pressure from M5S and Pd, through secretary Elly Schlein and the Five Stars Chiara Appendino and Mario Turco, as well as from some consumer associations and the productive world, for an immediate intervention based precisely on the waiver of the additional VAT revenue collected by the State following the price increases.

Schlein had urged Meloni, “who promised to abolish excise duties,” to “move from words to actions.”

For Appendino, the issue of mobile excise duties “is not a slogan, it is a concrete tool to stabilize prices and break the spiral of increases.”

The measure introduced in 2023, with the update of the so-called Bersani law of 2007, provides that the cut in excise duties “can be adopted if the price of fuel increases, on average over the previous two months, compared to the reference value” of the last Def. However, the percentage threshold for triggering the intervention is not specified, which in the past was set at 2%. The regulation also takes into account any decrease in the average of the previous four months.

The decision rests with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, in concert with the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security.

It remains to be seen how the executive intends to adapt the regulation to the current phase, marked by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz which has triggered widespread increases, although at the moment gasoline comes from already delivered crude oil shipments.

This trend had prompted Minister of Enterprises Adolfo Urso to speak of "unjustified increases" attributable more to the companies than to the network of distributors, hoping for the intervention of the Price Surveillance Authority and the Financial Police.

Even Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani has denounced that "there is too much speculation on energy prices. The increases are unjustified and it is not the gas station owner's fault; if the price of gasoline goes up, there is speculation upstream."

From the consumer and business front, there are calls for timely measures. For the National Consumers' Union, "this escalation must be immediately halted with an initial reduction of excise duties by 10 cents, a reasonable and easily financeable intervention that would bring prices back to values similar to those of 12 months ago and curb the surge."

According to Ruote Libere, an autonomous grouping of SMEs in the transport sector, "an increase of about 37 cents per liter results in over 11,000 euros in additional costs per year for each truck."