competition
Explosion in fuel prices: Habeck wants to strengthen the cartel office
Robert Habeck (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) reacts to the high prices at gas stations. Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Politicians sense unfair competition because of the fuel price jumps and react. The cartel office should get more powers.
At the gas station, prices are still high – even though the price of oil has fallen. Are oil companies making friction at the expense of drivers? This suspicion is in the room.
In response, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck wants to significantly expand the powers of the Cartel Office. The plan is to amend the law against restraints of competition.
Ministry sources said that when oil prices fell, “gasoline prices did not fall to the same extent. That must not be.” The current situation should not be used as a “cover” for unfair competition or hidden agreements.
Therefore, the market transparency office for fuels at the Federal Cartel Office should be strengthened. In the future she will also observe the production of fuels and wholesale. In addition, the database should be expanded to include quantity data so that the cartel office has a better database. “A legal obligation for market participants to also provide quantity data to the market transparency office would significantly improve the validity of our data,” said Andreas Mundt, head of the Cartel Office.
In the cabinet before Easter
The ministry also said that the authority should be given “extensive investigative powers” – including searches, if necessary. The changes, on which the coalition leaders had essentially agreed, are to be initiated in the cabinet before Easter.
Fuel prices reached record highs in the first weeks of the Ukraine war. In the meantime, according to ADAC, diesel cost 2.321 euros per liter on a nationwide daily average. E10 cost 2.203 euros. Since then, prices have fallen, but recently there has been little movement. On Monday, diesel was still 51 cents above the pre-war value at 2.173 euros. E10 cost 2.064 euros on Monday, a good 31 cents more than before the war. The ADAC rates the current prices as still far too high.
Enable better market surveillance
Before the start of the Ukraine war, the oil price was just under $100 for a barrel (159 liters) of Brent, which is important for Europe, and had climbed to over $130 in the first few weeks. After that, it even fell below 100 dollars for a short time, without the price of gas even coming close to the pre-war level. Oil was trading at around $106 a barrel on Tuesday afternoon.
Habeck had already announced that the cartel office would be able to better monitor the market. “It must not be the case that companies make unreasonable profits from the current situation,” he said. The power of the large gas station chains has long been a structural problem.
The Fuels and Energy trade association explained that given the current price situation, the causes of the increased gas station prices should not be overlooked. «Because of the Ukraine war, mineral oil companies have decided to gradually reduce imports of crude oil and products such as diesel from Russia. As a result, petrol, diesel and heating oil have become scarcer and more expensive.” This also applies to imports from other countries. “In this situation, the prices for mineral oil products have decoupled from the price of oil. This applies in both directions: Recently, petrol prices had fallen while oil prices had risen.”
ADAC praises Habeck
Jutta Gurkmann, head of the Federal Association of Consumer Advice Centers, said that the federal government should not continue to want to equip the cartel office to better check the corporations. “Not only mineral oil companies, but also the electricity providers must be monitored more effectively.” Energy companies should not make extra profits at the expense of end users. All cost reductions in the markets would have to be passed on in full to private households.
The ADAC praised Habeck’s plans. Transport President Gerhard Hillebrand said: “The last few weeks have shown that there is too little transparency in refineries and wholesalers.” The fuel prices would have leveled off at a much too high level. “It must not be the case that fuel prices are kept artificially high – that is why observing what is happening on the market is a very important contribution on the way to normalizing the price level.”