The leader of Die Linke party, Ines Schwerdtner, has accused the mineral oil corporations of failing to pass the fuel discount on to consumers. Speaking to the “Rheinische Post”, Schwerdtner called the companies’ ability to extract massive, unchecked profits “an absolute disgrace”. She sharply criticized the disparity, noting that while working citizens across the country are forced to stretch every euro, the conglomerates are shamelessly stuffing their own pockets. Furthermore, she asserted that the Federal Government is watching passively because it is “politically too cowardly” to confront these oil companies.
According to Schwerdtner, the government should have implemented limits on the companies’ profits months ago. In addition to capping profits, she demands the implementation of a strict excess profit tax, one that would retroactively reclaim every single euro generated by these unwarranted profits. She suggested that if the corporations had paid these excess profits, the money could have been used to fund “real relief measures” for citizens, rather than simply watching them pay more at the pump.
This criticism is underpinned by recent figures; a Greenpeace analysis revealed that oil corporations in Germany generated an excess profit of 702 million euros in the first month following the introduction of the tank discount.
