ROME – A growing number of European countries are cutting fuel taxes to lower surging pump petrol prices. The move brings respite to motorists but environmentalists say it flies in the face of commitments to curb global warming.
Rising international oil costs, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, have driven petrol above 2 euros ($2.21) per litre in much of Europe for the first time, placing a huge burden on car owners and industry.
Fuel costs triggered France’s “yellow vest” protest movement in 2018. They are always a sensitive political issue and governments, keen to head off motorists’ anger, are now taking action.
Italy said on Friday it would cut the price of petrol and diesel by 25 cents per litre until the end of April, funding the measure with a one-off tax on energy firms whose profits have surged in the last six months..
France has promised a rebate of 15 cents per litre for four months from April 1 at a cost of almost 3 billion euros for state coffers, and Sweden has announced similar measures. Both countries face elections this year.
However, climate activists and some economists criticise the approach, saying politicians are reneging on pledges to cut fossil fuel subsidies and are responding to the fuel price emergency at the cost of the climate crisis.
“What governments are doing clearly goes in the wrong direction, they should be reducing subsidies that hurt the environment and instead they are increasing them,” said Michele Governatori of the Italian climate and energy think-thank ECCO.
He said countries should offer financial incentives for people to use public transport, car-sharing or other means of ecological mobility. Alternatively, simple cash handouts would provide support for the needy which they can spend on petrol if necessary, but without directly encouraging car use and therefore greenhouse gas emissions.
