You think #petrol prices are high here? Fuel price shock awaits holiday drivers heading to the Continent

Despite soaring fuel prices at home, UK drivers are in for an even bigger shock as they head to the Continent over the Easter break.

Several European countries have higher petrol prices than here even though many are in the midst of a severe economic downturn.

Denmark has the highest petrol price (£1.59 per litre) followed by the Netherlands and Italy (both £1.58), Greece (£1.56) and Sweden (£1.51). Portugal, Belgium, France, Finland, Germany and Ireland also have higher prices than the UK which is at number 12 in the list.

The cheapest petrol in Europe is to be found in Romania at £1.12 per litre.

Country	Unleaded	£	Diesel	£
	Consumer price		Consumer price
	inc tax/duty Euros		inc tax/duty Euros
Denmark	€                     1.86	£   1.59	€                      1.64	£   1.40
The Netherlands	€                     1.85	£   1.58	€                      1.51	£   1.29
Italy	€                     1.85	£   1.58	€                      1.74	£   1.49
Greece	€                     1.83	£   1.56	€                      1.59	£   1.36
Sweden	€                     1.77	£   1.51	€                      1.71	£   1.46
Portugal	€                     1.75	£   1.50	€                      1.55	£   1.32
Belgium	€                     1.75	£   1.49	€                      1.55	£   1.33
France	€                     1.73	£   1.48	€                      1.55	£   1.33
Finland	€                     1.70	£   1.45	€                      1.56	£   1.34
Germany	€                     1.70	£   1.45	€                      1.53	£   1.31
Ireland	€                     1.65	£   1.41	€                      1.58	£   1.35
UK	€                     1.65	£   1.41	€                      1.73	£   1.48
Slovakia	€                     1.57	£   1.34	€                      1.48	£   1.26
Hungary	€                     1.52	£   1.30	€                      1.52	£   1.30
Czech Republic	€                     1.50	£   1.28	€                      1.50	£   1.28
Spain	€                     1.50	£   1.28	€                      1.39	£   1.19
Slovenia	€                     1.49	£   1.28	€                      1.37	£   1.17
Austria	€                     1.48	£   1.26	€                      1.42	£   1.21
Malta	€                     1.45	£   1.24	€                      1.36	£   1.16
Latvia	€                     1.44	£   1.23	€                      1.39	£   1.19
Luxembourg	€                     1.44	£   1.23	€                      1.29	£   1.11
Lithuania	€                     1.43	£   1.23	€                      1.35	£   1.15
Estonia	€                     1.40	£   1.19	€                      1.41	£   1.20
Poland	€                     1.39	£   1.19	€                      1.39	£   1.18
Cyprus	€                     1.38	£   1.18	€                      1.39	£   1.19
Bulgaria	€                     1.38	£   1.18	€                      1.37	£   1.17
Romania	€                     1.31	£   1.12	€                      1.34	£   1.15
EU Average	€                     1.58		€                      1.49

Note: the table above is ordered by highest to lowest petrol prices in pounds. The data for European prices comes from www.energy.eu where everything is quoted in euros. These have been converted to pounds using today’s tourist exchange rate of £1=€1.17

Drivers heading for the Continent should not be under any illusion that they will find cheaper fuel in many of the popular holiday destinations. Even if you allow for the hike in prices seen here over the last few days caused by the tanker drivers’ dispute, petrol prices will be eye-wateringly high in several countries. While petrol might be easier to find across the Channel, motorists are still going to need deep pockets to buy it.

However the picture is different when it comes to diesel with UK pump prices second only to Italy, with cheaper diesel to be found in the remaining 25 countries of the 27-member European Union (EU).

Compared with the other 26 countries in the EU, the UK is the only one to have the same level of duty for both diesel and petrol. Everywhere else the rate of duty for diesel is less than that for petrol and this is reflected in the price of diesel which is almost universally cheaper across the Channel. With about 30% of the UK’s car fleet now diesel-powered this will be good news for many of the hundreds of thousands of drivers travelling abroad this summer.

UK fuel prices were taken from the Department of Energy and Climate Change website:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/publications/basket.aspx?filepath=statistics%2fsource%2fprices%2fweeklyfuel.xls&filetype=4&minwidth=true
 

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Green Bankers?

City Spy in the Evening Standard asks, ‘Are bankers becoming greener or just poorer?’ as Canary Wharf takes out two floors of underground car park to convert them into shops and bars.  At the height of the financial boom in the late Nineties, a staggering 12% of Canary Wharf workers demanded a car parking space, and the property group created 6000. Today the demand has halved to 6%, and several firms now have more parking spaces than their employees want.

Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturer and Traders   show that in 2011 sales of many luxury car marques fell, with an overall fall in new car sales of around 4.5%. But if bonuses are no longer running to a Porsche 911, what are our future Michael Bloombergs spending their money on?  Are they becoming committed to travel by public transport and splashing out on the increasing number of apps available to ensure a seat near the exit from the tube or the quickest route by bus to the City?

Not a bit of it. Expensive racing bikes are now being sold faster than ever and people are living the Bradley Wiggins fantasy.  But like all dreams, even this one will come to an end when the Olympic memory fades, the British winter returns and bankers feel rich again. A new generation of desirable low carbon vehicles is already hitting the market with cars like the Aston Martin Cygnet and the Tesla Roadster. Such cars will enable bankers, and many others, to be green but to continue to use cars for all they can offer our economy and society.  And those cars will need spaces to park.

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