Armand Zorn, the SPD’s deputy parliamentary group leader, called the behaviour of the oil‑industry representatives at the fuel‑price taskforce meeting unsatisfactory and contradictory. “In principle the world‑market prices should naturally be reflected in petrol‑pump prices” he told RTL and ntv. “But they have been unable to explain why the retail prices do not fall when the global market does”.
Because of that, Zorn said, it is unfair and a fuel‑price package must be set in motion. In addition to adopting the Austrian model for station price setting, he is hoping for further powers for the Federal Cartel Office. “The cartel authority should be able to act quickly and impose sanctions if unfair practices are suspected” the SPD‑economist added.
The Federal Cartel Office currently sees no way to curb the rising fuel prices. President Andreas Mundt explained on RBB‑Inforadio that the oil companies’ pricing strategies are highly complex. “We first need to understand the drivers so that we can decide whether to launch proceedings” he said.
Mundt stressed that the cartel office cannot directly influence price trends; it is not a price‑setting authority. “We are not a price regulator-this is something many people do not realize. When we uncover agreements, we can hold the companies accountable and cut them down” he explained.
However, there is no indication at present that the companies are colluding. “I doubt they need to; prices of competitors are always visible on such transparent markets” Mundt added.
