The Bundestag has passed the government’s fuel‑price package. Known as the Fuel Price Adjustment Act, it was approved on Thursday with votes from the Union, SPD and Greens, while the AfD and Left voted against it.
Under the new law, gas stations will be able to raise retail fuel prices only once a day, at 12 p.m., following an Austrian model. Reductions, by contrast, may be posted at any time. Violations could result in fines of up to €100,000. Whether the measure will actually dampen prices remains to be seen; an evaluation is scheduled for one year after implementation.
The package also tightens antitrust rules. The Federal Cartel Office will be empowered to act more readily against dominant fuel‑sector companies when evidence of unjustifiably high prices exists. In selected cases, the burden of proof will shift: companies will have to demonstrate that their price increases are objectively justified.
