The European Commission has published its latest ‘Weekly Oil Bulletin’.
According to the ‘Consumer prices of petroleum products inclusive of duties and taxes’ there are 17 EU Member States where the price of petrol is lower than in Malta.
These are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom.
In Bulgaria, the price of petrol is 99.3 cents per litre, 28.7 cents less than in Malta, or 22.4 per cent lower.
In Cyprus, the price of petrol is €1.16 per litre, 12 cents below Malta. There is no reason why the price of petrol in Malta should be higher than that in Cyprus.
Why doesn’t the government liberalise the petrol market in Malta by removing Enemed’s monopoly in the market?
Is the European Commission, and its representatives in Malta, asleep? When are Maltese consumers going to start purchasing the brand of petrol of their choice? Forty years ago we used to have BP, Esso and Shell competing against each other for a share of the market. What is keeping this administration from returning to this situation?
There are 21 EU Member States where the price of diesel is lower than it is in Malta. These are the same 17 EU countries where petrol is less than in Malta, with the exception of the United Kingdom, and also France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Portugal.
In Luxembourg, the price of diesel is 93.5 cents per litre, 22.5 cents less than in Malta, or 19.4 per cent less. There are four other EU countries where the price of diesel is less than €1, namely Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
The Malta Automobile Club appeals to the constituted bodies to discuss not only the price of petrol and diesel in the pre-Budget consultations, but also the absence of competition in the local market for petrol.