Fuels, Antitrust: “Price tensions due to international events”
(Teleborsa) – “The price tensions recorded from 2022 onwards are mainly attributable to exceptional events of an international nature, with respect to which the possibility of effective antitrust interventions is legally difficult to configure, let alone at a national level”. This is what theCompetition and Market Guarantor Authority (Agcm)in the conclusions on thefact-finding survey on the prices of motor fuels in Italy and the oil industry.
“The trend in consumer prices in Italy – continues the authority – was also significantly influenced by exceptional regulatory interventions, in particular the application of a temporary tax discount on fuel through the limitation of the excise duties applied (starting from March 2022 ), and its subsequent elimination (from January 2023) As for the overall trend of gross margins, a significant increase in their variability emerged at the aggregate level”.
Inefficient distribution network
“The national distribution networkdespite a certain redevelopment – adds theAntitrust –, continues to be characterized by a lower average disbursement than the other main EU states and there are operational opacities within it that would have facilitated the spread of tax evasion and corruption phenomena, detected by the competent institutions. Specifically for the motorway network, where fuel prices are systematically higher than on the ordinary road network – the Agcm also points out -, critical issues have emerged in relation to the current concession model, in particular the royalties applied and the service charges required sub-concessionaires: these are conditions which, especially in view of the trend of decreasing consumption, are likely to affect the efficiency of the services and the prices charged to consumers, as well as the same economic sustainability for the operators”.
Greater price transparency
It is in this scenario for the Antitrust need to consider the usefulness of price transparency measures as advertising average values could affect competition. “Measures relating to price transparency, although they have been pursued for some time in the more general context of liberalization of consumer distribution activities, must be carefully considered in terms of their actual usefulness and cost/benefit ratio – underlines the Antitrust -. In particular with respect to the use of existing price comparison tools, the survey revealed how some of these tools, in particular the ‘Osservaprezzi’ website, could be improved to allow for greater use. Recent regulatory provisions (in particular decree law 5/2023 and consequent acts) are to be appreciated to the extent that they allow certain improvements, in particular the possibility for the user to set up a search based on his own selection criteria, while other measures envisaged therein , specifically the advertising of average prices with respect to large geographical areas, are not particularly useful for consumers as well as lend themselves to potential use by companies as a ‘focal price’, possibly damaging competition”.
Market fluctuations not improprieties
“The conclusions of the survey by the Antitrust Authority on the prices of motor fuels in Italy and on the oil supply chain, just published, confirm that, as we highlighted at the time, the tensions recorded on prices during of 2022 and at the beginning of 2023 were in no way attributable to incorrect behavior on the part of companies in the sector, but due to fluctuations in the global oil price market and, in particular, to the elimination of the excise duty discount which took place at the beginning of 2023”. This the Unem comment on the conclusions of the Antitrust survey on fuel prices.
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