Overview
- The excise cut on diesel expired when no prorogation was published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale on Saturday, so the temporary discount ended at midnight and prices are set to rise from Sunday.
- The measure had reduced the pump price by about €0.049 per liter including VAT, so the loss of the cut will add only a few cents per liter to diesel and will not affect gasoline.
- The discount was reintroduced on October 28 through the “accise mobili” mechanism and cost €38.7 million for 11 days, money the government drew from higher VAT receipts recorded in September.
- Policy makers focused relief on diesel because it is used heavily by industry and freight, while gasoline — mostly for private cars — has not received recent cuts; major retailers such as Eni and Q8 had also been maintaining voluntary price caps.
- The move highlights a trade‑off in Rome between short, VAT‑linked relief that is cheap for the state and earlier fixed cuts that were far costlier, and it leaves observers watching how quickly distributors pass the restored excise to retail prices.