“Mr Mitsotakis’ gaze is only on the polls; if he had planned measures for high fuel prices, he would have presented them at the TIF”. With this phrase Nikos Androulakis began his speech in Parliament, essentially presenting the two amendments that PASOK submitted earlier on this issue and on the golden visa.
“A few days ago they were asking Mr Pierrakakis, ‘why do you reject the proposal for 120 installments?’ and he was answering: ‘they are not needed’, while now he announced them,” he added. Announcing in advance his party’s third amendment, on Private debt, which will be submitted next week.
“In the detailed plan we presented (ed. at the end of August) for Private Debt and in the amendment that is coming, we propose 120 installments for everyone, not for some,” he stressed.
Regarding the government’s great delay in announcing the inadequate (according to the entire opposition) measures for high fuel prices, Mr Androulakis appeared particularly critical.
“How many letters will you send to Ms von der Leyen for the measures that you yourselves must take? Such as using the VAT surpluses to reduce the excise duty?” he said, referring to the lyrics of a well-known song: “You remind me of Galanis’ song ‘your blue letters,’ which, however, ends with the lyric ‘I wait a lifetime and nothing happens.’ Instead of sending letters, vote for our amendment; it will cost you less.”
On the issue of the golden visa he attributed motives of serving foreign private individuals to the government’s move to maintain its acquisition at 250,000 euros if the use of the property changes and at 400,000 on the islands, even the small ones, while in the rest of the country it raised the threshold to 800,000 euros.
He even displayed an advertising poster circulating in Turkey promoting the golden visa “in Yunanistan”, asking the attending Minister of Development Takis Theodorikakos whether this “constitutes an honor for the government”.
PASOK’s amendment on fuels:
Subject: Mechanism of Variable Special Consumption Tax on motor fuels – Addition of paras. 10 to 16 to article 71 of law 5222/2025
EXPLANATORY REPORT
With the proposed provision, a permanent mechanism is established for adjusting the Special Consumption Tax on gasoline and diesel fuel, when the international price of oil exceeds the price taken into account in the country’s official fiscal planning and this development results in additional Value Added Tax revenues. With the proposed mechanism, the additional VAT revenues generated by energy inflation do not automatically remain as an additional tax benefit for the State, but are returned to consumers through a temporary reduction of the excise duty and ultimately through a reduced pump price, without additional burden on the state budget.
Therefore, the mechanism is based on the principle that the fiscal impact of an exogenous increase in energy costs is not automatically converted into a permanent increase in tax revenues, but may, under clear and predetermined terms, be used to de-escalate the tax burden on fuels.
As an objective point of comparison, the price of Brent crude oil taken into account in the macroeconomic assumptions of the applicable State Budget is used. In this way, ex post or case-by-case determination of an arbitrary activation threshold is avoided. For the activation and determination of the fiscal margin of this mechanism, the international prices of refined products, including Platts reference prices, nor the evolution of refining margins, are not used as an autonomous point of reference. These factors concern a different dimension of the functioning of the fuel market and, in particular, the formation of margins and profitability in the refining sector. Addressing any unexpected profits of refining businesses, which are linked to the extraordinary circumstances and not to business development initiatives, is the subject of a separate tax intervention and is distinct from the present mechanism of temporary adjustment of the excise duty.
At the same time, it is expressly provided that increases due exclusively to increased consumption are excluded from the calculation of additional revenues, so that the fiscal margin is linked primarily to the effect of increased prices.
The proposed regulation has a European precedent. In Italy, a mechanism for the temporary reduction of excise duties on motor fuels (accise mobili) is already in operation, based on paras. 290 and 291 of article 1 of law 244/2007. The current Italian regulation allows the reduction of the accisa in order to offset the additional VAT revenues arising from the increase in the international price of crude oil, expressed in euros.
Finally, particular emphasis is placed in this amendment on passing the tax relief on to the final consumer. The reduction of an indirect tax does not in itself imply that the entirety of the tax relief will automatically appear in the retail price, as prices are simultaneously affected by international product prices, the exchange rate and the margins of the supply chain.
For this reason, daily market monitoring, the publication of a pass-through index and an ex post evaluation report are provided for. The relevant infrastructure already exists through the Liquid Fuels Price Observatory, which publishes nationwide daily data and data by geographical area.
AMENDMENT
To the bill of the Ministry of Development “New incentives for Foreign Direct Investment, restructuring of the Directorate of Foreign Direct Investment and other provisions”
“Article ..
To article 71 of law 5222/2025 (A΄ 134), paras. 10 to 16 are added as follows:
“10. In order to limit the impact of extraordinary increases in the international price of oil on motor fuel prices, a mechanism is established for the temporary reduction of the rates of Special Consumption Tax (excise duty) on unleaded gasoline of cases b΄ and c΄ and on internal combustion oil (DIESEL) used as motor fuel of case st΄ of para. 1.
The mechanism is activated provided that the average price of Brent crude oil, expressed in euros per barrel, during the immediately preceding calendar month exceeds the reference price of para. 11 and this excess results in additional Value Added Tax (VAT) revenues as defined in para. 12.
11. The reference price means the average price of Brent crude oil, expressed in euros per barrel, which has been taken into account in the macroeconomic and fiscal assumptions of the applicable State Budget.
The reference price, as well as the euro to United States dollar exchange rate used for its determination in euros, are made public by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance.
12. If the condition of para. 10 is met, the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, based on data from the Independent Authority for Public Revenue and any other competent public authority, determines, by the fifteenth day of the following month, the amount of additional VAT revenues from the consumption of the fuels of para. 10, which is attributed to the increase in prices linked to the excess over the reference price.
For determining the amount of additional VAT revenues, the following in particular are taken into account:
a) the actual quantities of gasoline and diesel fuel released for consumption during the reference month,
b) the deviation of the average price of Brent crude oil during the reference month from the reference price,
c) the change in the euro to United States dollar exchange rate and
d) any other objectively verifiable element that is necessary to be taken into account for isolating the effect of the excess over the reference price on the VAT taxable base.
13. By joint decision of the Minister of National Economy and including the consequent reduction in VAT revenues due to the reduction of the excise duty, may not exceed the amount of additional VAT revenues determined in accordance with para. 12. The application of this mechanism does not affect the possibility of establishing additional tax or income support measures, which are financed from other fiscal sources.
The temporary rates apply from the first day of the following calendar month and are recalculated on a monthly basis.
If, in the next calculation, the conditions of para. 10 are no longer met or no additional VAT revenues are found, the rates of para. 1 shall apply again.
14. The excise duty rates resulting from the application of para. 13 may in no case fall below the minimum levels of taxation provided for by European Union law.
If, for one of the products of para. 10, the margin for reduction is exhausted due to the application of the Union minimum level of taxation, the remaining available amount of additional VAT revenues may be taken into account for a further reduction of the rate of the other product, subject to the previous subparagraph and the overall fiscal limit of para. 13.
15. By the joint decision of para. 13, the following are mandatorily published:
a) the reference price of para. 11,
b) the average Brent price in euros per barrel during the reference month,
c) the average euro to United States dollar exchange rate,
d) the amount of additional VAT revenues determined in accordance with para. 12,
e) the applicable temporary excise duty rates per product,
st) the reduction of the excise duty in euros per one thousand (1,000) liters and in euro cents per liter,
z) the estimated impact of the tax change on the final price per liter, including the impact on VAT,
i) the total estimated fiscal result and
th) the period of application of the temporary rates.
By decision of the Minister of National Economy and Finance, the detailed methodology for determining the additional VAT revenues, the data sources used, the procedure for their certification, the methodology for allocating the available amount between gasoline and diesel fuel, and any other more specific matter for the implementation of paras. 10 to 15 are determined.
16. The Ministry of Development monitors, through the Liquid Fuels Price Observatory and any other available administrative source, the pass-through of the reduction of excise duty rates to the retail sale prices of the fuels of para. 10.
Throughout the duration of application of the temporary rates and for fifteen (15) days after the end of their application period, the following are published on a daily basis, by type of fuel:
a) the average nationwide retail sale price,
b) the average retail sale price per Regional Unit,
c) the average retail price before taxes,
d) the total tax burden per liter,
e) the change in the average retail price in relation to the period before the application of the reduction,
st) the theoretical reduction of the final price per liter corresponding to the reduction of the excise duty and the consequent reduction of VAT, under the assumption of full pass-through, and
Within ten (10) days from the end of each application period of the temporary rates, the Ministry of Development publishes an evaluation report on the pass-through of the tax reduction to retail prices, taking into account the evolution of international crude oil and petroleum product prices, the exchange rate and other objective factors affecting price formation.
If monitoring reveals significant and persistent deviations from the expected pass-through, which are not justified by objective changes in market conditions, the relevant data are transmitted to the legally competent supervisory authorities and, where appropriate, to the Competition Commission.
By joint decision of the Ministers of National Economy and Finance and Development, the methodology for monitoring and evaluating the pass-through, the data sources used and any other more specific matter for the implementation hereof are determined.