‘Fuel price difference with neighboring countries is no longer acceptable’

It is very quiet again at the petrol stations in the border regions of the Netherlands. Due to the increase in excise duty on fuel from 1 July, the price difference with neighboring countries is again such that it pays to drive to Belgium or Germany. It is a thorn in the side of the Association of Energy and Petrol Stations. According to chairman Ewout Klok, everything is now back to square one, he says in conversation with BNR news radio: “They finally had a normal turnover that you can expect at such a location. Then the excise duty went up again including inflation correction and then we immediately saw that the turnover was disappearing again.”

According to Klok, it is still difficult to say exactly what the filling stations in the border regions are missing out on. The increase in excise duty came almost at the same time as the summer holidays. Then it is usually quieter. “They also have less turnover due to the holidays, so we don’t really have a picture of what exactly is leaking.”

What is clear to him is that the major differences between the Netherlands and neighboring countries need to change. Klok: “The difference in excise duties between the Netherlands and the countries around us, something needs to be done about that. We are going to make it clear to The Hague that this cannot continue like this.” Klok speaks of a ‘leakage effect’, because turnover is now leaking away to Belgium and Germany due to the higher excise duty. This is not only unfavorable for filling station owners, but also for the state because of the loss of excise revenue. “We want to make clear with figures what exactly that leakage effect is.”