Two important news for Italian motorists. First of all, the new European directive 959 of 2023 of the Parliament and of the Council introduces the reform of the ETS system (Emission Trading System), which regulates the trading of CO2 emission allowances. This system represents a market which, since 2005, has allowed companies in specific energy and industrial sectors to obtain authorization to emit pollutants through the purchase of these quotas.
Without forgetting the new law which, starting from 1 August 2023, entered into force byobligation for petrol stations located on roads and motorways to post a billboard containing the average prices of the different types of fuel available at the point of sale, together with the prices actually charged. The request is that these prices be updated daily, in accordance with the implementing decree provided for by the law converting the Fuel Decree. Let’s see better:
Unpublished EU directive on fuel prices New rules on petrol and diesel prices that came into force on 1 August
Unpublished EU directive on fuel prices
The new EU directive extends to the maritime transport sector and introduces a new system for trading CO2 emission quotas, which also involves the domestic heating and road transport sectors. Oil companies will be subject to payment for the CO2 emissions generated during the fuel production, with the consequent increase in costs which will inevitably be reflected in the final price of petrol and diesel. The system will come into force in 2027, and the prospects are alarming, especially for European motorists.
To understand the risk, it is important to explain the CO2 credit mechanism, which involves investments by companies in projects to protect the environment and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In exchange for these investments, companies get green stocks or shares that can be sold on the market. These securities are purchased by companies which generate large quantities of CO2 due to their production activities and which therefore have to offset their emissions. The purchase and payment of these credits in Euros per ton of CO2 allows you to balance overall emissions, allowing companies to continue to emit.
The European institutions have the aim of limit the price of CO2 allowances at a maximum of 45 euros per tonne, which would translate into an additional cost of 10 cents per liter of petrol and 12 cents per liter of diesel.
In light of the price developments in the current ETS market, the forecasts are worrying. European auctions saw an increase in the price of allowances from €8.34 per tonne in January 2018 to an expected average of €86.17 for 2023 and €96.19 for 2024, according to an analysis conducted by the agency Reuters. Forecasts for 2025 indicate an average price of 104.84 euros per ton.
According to projections by the International Energy Agency, the new trading system it will involve a much greater number of operators than the current system, which will lead to an increase in demand and, consequently, in the prices of the units on sale.
This is all due to the lack of a sufficient number of companies engaged in the generation of allowances through environmental projects, which require ever longer implementation times. This exponential growth in demand could bring the price of CO2 quotas to 200 euros per ton, or 53 cents per liter of diesel and 47 cents per liter of petrol. Consequently, if this increase were applied to current average fuel prices, petrol would reach a price of 2.288 euros per litre, while diesel would cost 2.191 euros per litre, net of any taxes.
New rules on petrol and diesel prices
The Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy receives the periodic communications on fuel prices by fuel distributors operating throughout the country. Subsequently, the Ministry processes the data collected by calculating the arithmetic mean of the prices communicated by the operators of the service stations located outside the motorway network, divided into regions and autonomous provinces. The results of these calculations are published in an open format on the institutional website of the Ministry.
The methods of communicating prices by the distributors, both in the event of variations and in the absence of variations, as well as the characteristics and methods of displaying billboards containing information on average prices, are governed by a implementing decree issued by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy.
Service station managers, including those along the motorway network, are required to clearly display billboards containing the average reference prices provided by the Ministry. In order to facilitate the dissemination of the data communicated and the average prices publishedthe Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy develops and makes available a free application for mobile devices, which allows users to consult the average prices and the prices actually charged by individual merchants.
In practice, in service stations located outside the motorway network, next to the selling price charged, the regional average price must be displayed provided by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, calculated on the basis of the prices communicated by the operators of the service stations themselves. In this way, motorists can verify if the distributor is applying a price in line with the regional average or if it is above or below it, allowing them to make the appropriate decisions. For service stations along motorways, the average price is calculated nationwide.
2023-08-21 14:01:00
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