Saxony-Anhalt’s Minister-President Sven Schulze (CDU) is urging the federal government to lower the energy tax as a response to the rising pump prices. “The federal finance minister should cut the energy tax now until the market normalises” Schulze told “Bild am Sonntag”. He added that the Federal Cartel Office must ensure that any relief is passed directly to consumers.
Schulze argues that commuters and families in rural areas suffer especially from the high cost of fuel, and that Germany has no influence over the international crude‑oil markets. Therefore, the state must act on national taxes. “Currently the tax and duty share is 50 to 65 percent. For a litre of Super E10 sold at 1.94 Euro, the driver pays 0.65 Euro in energy tax, 0.15 to 0.18 Euro in CO₂ tax, and 0.31 Euro in VAT” he explained.
He criticises the VAT applied to the energy tax and the CO₂ levy as a “tax on top of a tax”. According to Schulze, cutting the energy tax would bring prices back to last year’s levels. “Diesel averaged 1.60 Euro in 2025. Prices must return to the pre‑explosion level” he asserted.
In summer 2022, the previous federal government had temporarily lowered the energy tax on fuels for three months to cushion the impact of the energy‑price shock caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
