Federal Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche (CDU) has criticised the petroleum industry amid sharply rising fuel prices. “It is remarkable that prices at German service stations have risen more noticeably than the European average” she said on Tuesday in Berlin. “The oil sector has not offered a particularly convincing explanation for this effect, and that is why we will act”.
She noted that “we have seen up to a dozen price changes in one day. That causes confusion rather than clarity and market transparency”. In response, Reiche presented a package of measures last week that, among other things, intends to cap the number of price changes a gas station can make in a single day.
The proposal is currently undergoing departmental coordination. “I expect Parliament to consider the draft law in a first reading this week, so that the legislative process can be completed by the end of March, at the latest early April” the CDU politician added.