Fuel-price dispute puts pressure on Germany’s coalition before state polls

Germany’s governing coalition remains divided over how to curb record fuel prices before Sunday elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The debate coincides with weak polling for Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU and a new survey suggesting many respondents doubt he will remain chancellor through the year, DW reports.

Germany’s coalition government is under pressure to offer relief from soaring gasoline and diesel prices before two state elections on Sunday, according to DW. The races will be held in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where polls indicate closely contested contests involving the CDU, the Social Democrats and the far-right Alternative for Germany.

The coalition has not agreed on a common response to the price increases. The conservative CDU/CSU bloc favors fuel-tax relief, while its junior coalition partner, the SPD, has backed a government-enforced price cap on gasoline and diesel as well as a windfall-profit tax on major oil companies.

SPD Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil said at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Dublin that the government was seeking solutions and that he wanted a “clear, quick signal” at fuel pumps. He also said he expected the European Commission to prepare proposals for a windfall-profit tax before the next meeting of EU finance ministers in October.

CDU General Secretary Franziska Hoppermann said the coalition was targeting relief of roughly 22 to 25 cents per liter by the beginning of October, but did not provide details on how it would be achieved. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s SPD premier, Manuela Schwesig, separately called on Merz to introduce a price cap quickly.

Fuel prices have reached record levels several times in the past week. DW reported that the motoring club ADAC put average diesel at €2.47 per liter on Thursday, while the cheapest E-10 gasoline cost more than €2.30.

The price dispute comes as Merz faces political difficulties. A YouGov poll cited by DW found that 48% of 1,611 respondents expected him no longer to be chancellor by the end of the year, compared with 31% who expected him to remain. The CDU also performed poorly in Saxony-Anhalt and is polling near the parliamentary threshold in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, raising speculation over the impact of another weak election result.