Croatian Prime Minister: Hungary will lose the case if the dual fuel price case goes to court

“It is a clear failure to fulfill member state obligations”

- this is what Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic thinks about Hungary’s introduction of dual fuel prices on May 27th. To remind: according to the government’s decision, only cars with Hungarian license plates can be refueled at government-mandated, reduced prices, for only 480 HUF (1,21 Euro) per liter. Owners of cars with foreign license plates have to pay the current, much higher market price.

Euronews reports that at the EPP’s congress in Rotterdam, Plenkovic said that he had already communicated his opinion to Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán. The Croat politician is convinced that if the European Commission takes this to court, Hungary will lose the case.

“If Hungary is allowed to buy cheaper Russian oil, while everyone else has to buy more expensive, Mediterranean or Brent oil, they should not be allowed to discriminate against the citizens of other member states who wish to fill up their car in Hungary. This simply isn’t going to work. There have already been similar attempts in other areas – for example with the motorway tolls, but the Court of Justice of the EU has always ruled against the discriminators” – Plenkovic said.

There have been no informal or formal objections to Hungary’s dual pricing of petrol from the Commission so far, but both the Commission and the European Association for Consumer Protection have previously stated to the newspaper that they are looking into the measure. At the same time, the EU Consumer Protection referred to the example of the German motorway tolls and added that they would be surprised if Hungary’s decision about gas prices were in line with EU legislation.