While the Average National Recommended Retail Price for petrol here in the Netherlands climbs to €2.50 per litre, Belgians have ‘only’ lost around €2 per litre. Nevertheless, the government is thinking about substantial tax cuts in order to spare consumers.
The high fuel prices have not yet prompted the Dutch government to review the tax burden on fuels. This seems to be happening in Belgium. There are political voices calling for tax cuts in the context of purchasing power, the report said Telegraph† The federal Minister of Finance (also deputy prime minister on behalf of CD&V) Vincent van Peteghem, among others, believes that it is ‘time for action’. The Belgian government would make a decision this week or next week. Lowering the excise duty to the European minimum standard seems to be the most promising adjustment. Reportedly, the petrol price drops to about €1.70 per litre.
Various demands have been put forward from different quarters of Belgian politics. For example, the liberal ruling party MR believes that the diesel price should be reduced from €2 per liter to €1.60 or €1.70 and, according to The newspapaer another liberal ruling party, Open VLD, that a 20 to 40 euro cents per liter discount is realised. In practice it comes down to about the same. The Christian-democratic ruling party CD&V is increasing the pressure and would already like to make a decision on Wednesday. The Liberals and the Greens want to wait a little longer. The liberals argue that they still want to wait for the European summit in Versailles next week. Striking: the Greens would also be open to tax reductions on fuel, but they would like to see more investment in public transport in return.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl