Eni caps fuel prices, and politics splits
From today, Eni caps self-service fuel prices in Italy: diesel at €2.19 a litre and petrol at €1.99, at over 4,000 Enilive stations, motorways included. For 30 days, possibly to the end of the year.
In May 2019, campaigning for the European elections, Giorgia Meloni said in a video: "We demand that excise duties be progressively abolished." In January 2023, as prime minister, she let the previous government's cut lapse, saying it cost "on average a billion a month" and helped owners of luxury cars the most.
The cap is about 17 cents below the national self-service averages on 26 September: €2.357 for diesel and €2.158 for petrol. It lands as the government's own discount shrinks. On 26 September the cut in excise duty on diesel, a fixed tax charged on every litre on top of VAT, was halved from 12.2 to 6.1 cents.
Eni is listed, but the Italian state is its largest shareholder, with about a third of the shares.
The prime minister's office called the cap "a praiseworthy act of attention to Italy". Deputy PM Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia) called it the path his party prefers, "not state-led interventions or new taxes built around the idea of windfall profits". Economy minister Giancarlo Giorgetti (League) asked Brussels in August, with five other EU countries, for exactly such a tax on energy companies.
For the Democratic Party, Francesco Boccia asked whether Eni is supposed to make up for the government's choices. Angelo Bonelli (Greens and Left) said the cap shows "a capped price was possible". Station operators fear they cannot match it. Consumer group Codacons estimates €10 saved per tank of diesel; Assoutenti wants a legal cap for all companies.
The voice in this reel is AI-generated. Meloni's clips: Fratelli d'Italia's YouTube channel, 6 May 2019 and 11 January 2023. Script and checks by The Italy Desk.
A voluntary cap by a company, or a cap set by law?
Eni, Ministry of Enterprise, ANSA, Forza Italia, Quotidiano.net, Il Post, EspansioneTV, Pagella Politica
