The reason is not due to taxes, since most EU countries have not made any changes to fuel taxation. The VCÖ therefore also demands an examination by the Federal Competition Authority (BWB). According to the VCÖ analysis, a liter of premium petrol cost 1.987 euros at the beginning of this week, which is 46 cents more than two weeks before the end of February. The price increase in Austria was thus seven cents higher than in Germany (plus 39 cents), 14 cents higher than in Italy, 19 cents higher than in France and 22 cents higher than in Spain and the Netherlands.
The difference was smaller for diesel: Austria has the second highest price increase in the EU after Germany (57 cents), with 50 cents, the VCÖ reported. The increase in diesel prices in Austria was five cents higher than in the Czech Republic and Finland, seven cents higher than in the Netherlands, eight cents higher than in Estonia, nine cents higher than in Italy and ten cents higher than in Poland and France.
In addition, the VCÖ calls for a reduction in transport’s dependence on oil. 80 percent of oil imports are burned in traffic. The high consumption of diesel and petrol causes billions of euros to flow abroad every year, mostly to countries with massive deficits in democracy and human rights. In 2020 Austria imported two thirds of its oil from Kazakhstan, Iraq, Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Source: Nachrichten
