An the border between Germany and France there has recently been considerable tank tourism. The person responsible for a gas station near the border in Strasbourg on the French side reports that 70 percent of their tank customers are now from Germany. Sometimes there are long queues with vehicles with German license plates.
Motorists on the German side from Kehl am Rhein, on the other hand, say that the price difference is often 50 cents per liter or more. This can make a big difference in the gas station bill.
Tank discount abolished – tank discount extended
The background to this are opposing political steps: in Germany, the tank discount was abolished on September 1st – in France, on the other hand, it was raised from 18 to 30 cents per liter.
The Munich economist and economist Monika Schnitzer has analyzed the consequences. In Germany, the daily average price of Super E10 on Thursday was 22 cents compared to the previous day, diesel by 8 cents. However, fuel prices had already risen on the days before the event. According to Schnitzer, this could indicate “anticipatory effects” – i.e. anticipated price increases.
In the past few months of the German tank discount, fuel prices were, at least on average, lower in Germany than in France, as Schnitzer’s comparison shows. In France, the fuel discount was introduced at the beginning of April before the presidential elections and was later extended under pressure from the conservative Republicans and increased to September 1st. In November and December, however, it is to be reduced to 10 cents per liter and phased out at the end of the year.
Between April 1st and June 1st, when only France had a tank discount and not Germany, prices for both diesel and Super E10 were on average lower in France than in Germany. Between June 1st and mid-July, when tank discounts applied in both countries, prices in Germany were lower. Then first diesel became more expensive in Germany than in France and at the latest with the opposite changes to the tank discount Germany is now significantly more expensive again.
France currently has the lowest inflation in Europe
In earlier, “normal” times, the prices in the two countries would not have been far apart, says Jürgen Albrecht, a petrol specialist at ADAC. However, the political debates on this issue in the two countries were obviously very different. This was not only due to the fear of the yellow vests in France, says Manuel Frondel, an energy specialist from the RWI research institute. In France, the tank discount was seen more than in Germany as an instrument to strengthen purchasing power.
The economist Cyrus de la Rubia points out, however, that in France there is less skepticism about market interventions, which is now reflected in various price caps. How long this overturning of price signals works well is controversial. However, according to Eurostat, France currently has the lowest inflation rate in the euro area at 6.5 percent.