The ‘margin’ on unleaded petrol in Malta – €0.244 on one litre of petrol as of 20 February – is higher than that of 17 other EU member states. In Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom, the margin was lower than that of Malta.
The price of one litre of unleaded petrol is made up of four components – the price of crude, the margin, excise duties and VAT. The margin covers refining, transportation, insurance, stockpiling, distribution and sale to consumers.
In the case of Malta, these four components amounted to €0.532, €0.244, €0.469, and €0.224 euro respectively, on 20th February. The price of crude changes every day, but in Malta the price of unleaded petrol is fixed for a whole month, and as a result one or more of the other components are adjusted to keep the price fixed. The margin on unleaded petrol in Malta amounts to 16.6 per cent of the total price.
The excise duties on unleaded petrol in Malta – at €0.469 per litre – is higher that that of 10 EU member states. Excise duties in Malta amount to 31.9 per cent of the total price of unleaded petrol.
The total cost of unleaded petrol in Malta – at €1.470– is higher than that of 11 EU member States.
As the EU portal on fuel taxes clearly shows, taxes – excise duties and VAT – are levied by the local governments in the respective EU member states – that is the government of Malta in our case. The ‘margin’ in Malta is decided by a public corporation – Enemalta, while the government and Enemalta have no control on the price of crude.
http://www.energy.eu/
This means that unlike other EU countries, where several different brands of unleaded petrol can be purchased, Malta is the only country where 63.8 per cent of the price of unleaded petrol is under government control!
Market liberalisation
As far as it is known, Malta is the only country in the EU where the market is not liberalized! What measures has the European Commission taken to see that Maltese citizens and consumers are not treated differently from all other EU citizens? What measures have the government and Enemalta taken to try to bring down the price of unleaded petrol? Why cannot the price of some of the components on which the government and Enemalta have some measure of control not been reduced to the level of some of those EU countries where unleaded petrol is cheaper than Malta?
It is not enough to have just one other company to supply unleaded petrol in Malta. Several years ago we had three companies – BP, Esso and Shell – supplying petrol and diesel. Why cannot Maltese citizens – EU citizens – have the same opportunity of purchasing their fuel supplies from these three companies and more, including Enemalta, if it wishes to compete with these companies?
It is likely that in the majority – if not all – of the other EU countries, unleaded petrol contains ethanol. This makes unleaded petrol cheaper and cleaner for the environment? What is the policy of the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry for the Environment on this issue? What is Enemalta waiting for to introduce this type of petrol to Malta?
Maltese car owners need to get organised so that these issues can be discussed on their behalf with the authorities. The Malta Automobile Club could become the channel for dialogue with the authorities for a more liberalized fuel market and less expensive prices.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Malta-Automobile-Club/484683321570286?fref=ts?fref=ts