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Hungary defends its fuel price cap following EU's infringement procedure

Jul 16, 2022

Budapest [Hungary], July 16: The government of Hungary defended its decision to cap fuel prices on Friday by citing the need to protect its security of supply in response to the launch of an infringement procedure against it earlier in the day by the European Commission.
"Today, the Commission decided to open an infringement procedure against Hungary for having introduced measures going against Internal Market provisions," the European Union (EU) executive said in a statement.
The Commission recalled that Hungary has imposed different fuel prices for vehicles with foreign number plates and those with Hungarian number plates.
The latter --including tractors and agricultural machinery with Hungarian documents --are entitled to 60 percent to 70 percent lower official fuel prices.
"In contrast, all other vehicles with a foreign number plate cannot benefit from such reduced prices," the Commission said.
The Hungarian government capped the price of petrol and diesel at 480 Hungarian forints (1.21 U.S. dollar) per liter on Nov. 15 last year and has extended the measure until Oct. 1. Without the cap, the price per liter is over 800 forints.
The Commission has called on the Hungarian government to comply with EU law provisions with regard to the free movement of goods and services, including transport services, under the single market.
In her response, Hungary's Justice Minister JuditVarga cited the government's concerns over the security of supply, arguing that when the price cap was introduced, it was applicable to everyone, but the high inflation and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have triggered "petrol tourism," which threatens the security of supply to such an extent that the government had no choice but to removed vehicles with foreign license plates from the range of beneficiaries.
"The protection of the security of supply as a public order reason also appears in the jurisprudence of the EU courts," Varga recalled, adding that as before, the government of Hungary was ready for "constructive legal dialogue as long as it was based on mutual respect."
Hungary has two months to address the concerns raised by the Commission. (1 U.S. dollar = 397.76 Hungarian forints)
Source: Xinhua