Overview
- The government’s draft would limit petrol stations to a single scheduled daily price increase at 12:00, with price cuts allowed at any time and fines up to €100,000 for violations.
- The package reverses the burden of proof for suspected price abuse so fuel suppliers must justify increases, expands cartel-misuse tools, and speeds sector investigations across markets.
- The bill has been circulated for inter-ministerial consultation and simultaneously forwarded to the Bundestag for passage within a week, is not subject to Bundesrat approval, and will be time-limited through summer with a post-summer review.
- A coalition taskforce meets Monday with Bundeskartellamt chief Andreas Mundt and oil-industry representatives as Berlin also joins an IEA strategic-reserve release to ease wholesale pressures.
- Average prices remain above €2 per liter (E10 ~€2.035, diesel ~€2.153), public polling shows strong support for tax relief and skepticism about the one-hike rule, and economists cite mixed evidence from Austria on lasting price effects.