We and our partners do the following data processing based on your consent: store and/or access information on a device, personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development Germany will cut taxes on gasoline and diesel by about 17 cents a litre from October, the government said Friday. The move aims to gain temporary relief for motorists as fuel prices surge above €2 a litre and contribute to growing pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz. A display board showing the current prices of petrol and diesel at a gas station, in Munich, Germany on September 14, 2026. © Angelika Warmuth, The German government has agreed to tax reductions that will cut gasoline prices by €0.17 ($0.1952) a litre in response to soaring fuel prices, people with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.
The move includes a €0.14 cut in the energy tax and an additional €0.03 cut from the sales tax, the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. The decision came after Chancellor Friedrich Merz promised this week to offer relief to consumers hit by soaring gasoline prices. It followed extended negotiations between the federal government and state governments over how to finance the cuts. As the Iran war has helped push benchmark oil prices over $100 a barrel, gasoline prices have become a pressing political issue for Merz, whose approval ratings have plunged to record lows. Earlier this week, the nationwide daily average price for a litre of E10 gasoline hit a record €2.286 ($10 per gallon).
On Sunday, the capital Berlin and the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a sparsely populated and heavily rural region where many people rely on their cars for transport, both go to the polls in elections expected to see Merz's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) heavily punished. To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading.
To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. The results will be particularly closely watched after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party came near to winning an absolute majority in a separate election in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt on September 6. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the incumbent state premier Manuela Schwesig has accused Merz's government of standing by while fuel prices surge, and called for a fuel price cap based on the Luxembourg model of a nationwide maximum.
Earlier this year, the government offered some relief to motorists by reducing the energy tax from May through June, effectively lowering petrol and diesel prices by around 17 cents per litre and there were widespread calls for the cuts to be extended. The Bild newspaper reported that Berlin is also working on a gasoline price cap that would be contingent on the oil price, with plans subject to talks with the heads of Germany's regional states. German power grid sabotage attack linked to ‘climate extremism’ Germany’s Merz 'deeply shocked' by far-right AfD's historic electoral victory 1. 1 ## Europe and Canada are 'strong, even stronger together', Carney tells European Parliament Europe 2. 2 ## Trump threatens EU with tariffs over 'laughable' Canada association plan Europe 3. 3 ## Ivorian footballer Malick Yalcouyé falsely accused of lying about his age 4. 4 ## Russia seizes assets of Swiss food giant Nestle and three French firms Europe 5. 5 ## Russia opens voting stations at border with Poland, Baltic states As it happened Europe 6. 6 ## Russia votes in parliamentary election as war in Ukraine drags on Europe © 2026 Copyright France 24 - All rights reserved.
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