A German economy ministry draft law would allow the government to cap maximum fuel prices, but only under tight conditions. Handelsblatt reported the draft, which would take effect on 1 January 2027. The draft would create the legal framework for caps rather than introduce them directly.
The trigger conditions
Intervention would require petrol or diesel price increases to exceed the EU average by more than 5 percentage points. That gap would have to persist for three consecutive weeks. Conditions would be assessed using data from the second full week of January at the earliest.
The draft is considerably more cautious than an earlier agreement. In September the federal government and the states had envisaged a temporary cap by 1 January 2027, modelled on Belgium and Luxembourg. Handelsblatt’s account of the leaked draft shows that model has been scaled back. The draft is not final.
Energy tax relief and earlier debate
Separately, the earlier September agreement included a cut in energy tax on petrol and diesel of 14 euro cents per litre from October until the end of the year. Including the VAT effect, relief would total about 17 euro cents per litre. Economy Minister Katherina Reiche had previously criticised a state price cap. She warned it could harm German refining.
