Several proposals have been put forward in recent days concerning excise duties on the price of fuel at the pump, a reduction in VAT on gas, the extension of the reduction in VAT on electricity and the extension of the social tariff.
From a good source, it was indicated that Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) had submitted a proposal, without further details. In the morning, on the radio waves, the Minister of Finance, Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V), maintained his proposal to lower excise duties on fuel to the European minimum. A measure which, in the eyes of some parties, would however have a substantial budgetary cost: some 5.5 million euros per day.
Other measures have also been put forward: the reduction of VAT on gas to 6%, as has already been decided for electricity (two measures that some would like to make structural) as well as a social tariff which would now concern middle class without forgetting an intervention on the price of heating oil.
The measures that the government should decide on in the evening, or even overnight, only concern part of the energy file. On March 18, the De Croo team must also agree on the fate of the nuclear power stations to which the support for the transition to renewable energy is linked.