The derailed prices at the pump and the unprecedented energy bills are nevertheless urgent enough for the federal government to intervene quickly. The liberals and the greens actually wanted to wait until Friday to include nuclear power stations in one major energy deal. But the pressure on Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open VLD) turned out to be too great. Last night, the federal government knocked off a brand new package of energy measures, the third in a few months.
The most notable measure is undoubtedly the reduction in excise duties on diesel and petrol. The agreed discount is 17.5 cents per liter, and a full tank of 60 liters will make about 10.5 euros cheaper. The discount of 17.5 cents is not that far from the original proposal of Minister of Finance Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V), who wanted to reduce the bill by 24 cents per litre. However, the green parties in particular did not want to stimulate the use of fossil fuels too much. The measure will be re-evaluated in September, until then the price reduction will cost the state 288 million euros.
In addition, the federal government also wanted to do something about the derailed gas and electricity bill. The VAT on electricity had already been temporarily reduced from 21 to 6 percent, now that on gas has also been adjusted downwards. These two interventions will also remain in effect until the end of September and will cost the state coffers an additional just under 700 million.
fuel oil
In addition to the measures that were on the table anyway, a number of additional proposals were discussed last night. The Walloon socialists of the PS were undoubtedly thinking of their electorate when they proposed a discount on the heating oil bill. In Wallonia, more than half of the people still burn oil. They will soon receive a one-off discount of 200 euros on their bill, which will cost the government portfolio 210 million.
The Greens also took a small trophy from the overnight government deal. The NMBS will soon receive 13 million euros to counter the planned price increase of train tickets. Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) thought it only logical that the trains also receive an extra if the government supports motorists.
In addition to the measures that support almost all citizens directly, low incomes have also been considered. The extended social energy tariff has been extended once again, now until the end of September. This discount will cost the state an additional 94.5 million euros. In addition, there is still a short cut of 17 million euros for the social fuel oil fund and the temporary unemployment scheme in the context of corona will be extended for a while. The latter costs another 25.3 million euros.
All in all, the cost of the package of energy measures is 1.329 billion euros. On the other hand, the government would have earned about a billion in any case from the higher energy prices, simply because the income from taxes would then increase. By allowing that extra income to flow back to the population, the government hopes to get rid of the perception that the government is making money from the energy crisis.
At the same time, several ministers are crossing fingers that this third package of measures is finally sufficient to be able to reduce energy bills in the short term. However that may be in the long term, will be the subject of a debate that the government wants to land on Friday. Then comes the nuclear issue, as does the path to energy independence from Russia and the accelerated transition to renewable energy.
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