Despite the ever greater impact of European Union competition laws and the spread of the Eurozone, there are still massive differences in fuel prices between the countries of Europe. This is partly down to taxation, partly to the very different levels of wealth, and therefore the ability of local people to buy fuel in different countries.
While allowances have to be made regularly for currency fluctuations, the safest way for an international motorist to compare fuel prices across Europe is to convert local prices to Euro cents per litre. Fortunately, the Automobile Association, the AA, does so, and their surveys throw up some interesting curiosities.
The big choice for an international driver is between petrol and diesel. Some countries, such as the UK, make diesel more expensive. Others, like Portugal, sell much cheaper diesel than petrol. So, if you are renting a car in a particular country, check before booking your rental which type of engine is the most economical.
The fuel price range is enormous. Taking mid 2009 prices, for petrol, while a litre costs 79.2c in Latvia, it s a whopping 130.1c in the Netherlands. Diesel prices are slightly more uniform, ranging from 82.1c in Poland to 115.5c in Norway. The high price in Norway shows that being a major oil nation, as Norway is, makes little difference to retail prices.
Central Europe, namely Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, and the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, offer the most competitive European fuel prices at present. An exception is neighbouring Slovakia, where diesel costs over 30 more than in the Czech Republic and 46 more than in Poland.
Poland is the only European country where petrol and diesel prices are exactly the same, although they are nearly identical in Ireland. What is particularly curious, given that currency fluctuations should make no difference to fuel price comparisons, is the wide variation between countries in the Eurozone. How this fits in with the EU s determination to create fair competition between countries is hard to understand.
Anybody in the Netherlands living near the border with Germany or Belgium is almost sure to drive across to fill up and save about 11 on petrol. A little further away, Luxembourg offers a saving of 42 compared with Dutch petrol prices meaning the small principality s petrol stations must be doing well as drivers from Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands visit to buy a tankful of fuel.
To add to the confusion, there are massive price variations within countries. In the UK, prices vary from town to town depending upon the degree of competition between the supermarkets where the bulk of fuel is now sold. Try buying fuel on a Scottish Island, however, and you ll be paying a lot more, in part because of extra shipping costs but largely because the smaller outlets in such places can t buy in the same bulk as the retail giants.
City Break holiday makers are increasingly turning to their cars (or at least hired cars), as a cheaper way to get around European cities. The recent hikes in European fuel prices is going to shut down yet another avenue of cheap holiday travel.
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