Rising gasoline prices: Finally find the right lid!

T he fuel prices are rising and rising. On Monday, the premium grade E10 gasoline was more expensive than ever before on a national average, and the price of diesel was just below the historic high. Now Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who sees his skins slipping away after the lost elections in Saxony-Anhalt and before the upcoming elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, has announced relief. On Tuesday, he left it open exactly what they should look like - but this at least fueled the hope that the federal government would want to use other, more useful tools this time. For example: the fuel price cap.

The war against Iran, which the USA and Israel launched, is primarily to blame for the high prices. Important transport routes for crude oil are almost closed, in some cases for months. There is a shortage of oil on the world market and it is becoming increasingly expensive. But the greed of oil companies to make a profit from the crisis is also to blame for the high prices in Germany. They drive up fuel prices with much more momentum than necessary, and all of them collect billions in additional profits - at the expense of consumers.

A fuel price cap would tame both: the costs for consumers and the excess profits of the oil companies. It would also have the advantage that the state would hardly have to spend any money on the introduction. Such a price cap is already an issue in the government parties; SPD parliamentary group deputy Armand Zorn, for example, is promoting a model based on the Belgian model: There, the state calculates a maximum sales price for gasoline and diesel in retail and wholesale for each working day, depending on the price of crude oil and the costs of refinery, transport, storage and distribution.

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Only: So far, the Union representatives have persistently resisted a fuel price cap, especially Federal Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche, who would be responsible for the introduction. Will the Chancellor's vague promise change anything? Let's see.

If the federal government cannot agree on a cap, there are also other good proposals on the table: The EU is discussing an excess profits tax this week. A speed limit could reduce fuel consumption and thus not only reduce fuel costs, but also climate-damaging emissions. Or the federal government could introduce car-free days, like in the 1973 oil crisis. Or reduce public transport tickets. Or pay out the climate money that the traffic light government had once announced. But the problem remains: So far, the CDU and CSU don't want any of this.