ADAC warns 2026 could become the most expensive year on record for drivers at the pump

Fuel prices have barely moved compared with the previous Friday's levels, leaving retail prices stuck in the upper end of their historical range. Drivers of petrol cars are bearing the brunt of the pressure, with diesel also trading at elevated levels across German filling stations.

Industry observers have linked the sustained price spike to the war in Iran and its disruption of global energy flows, which has given oil producers wider margins on refined products sold into European markets.

Against that backdrop, Germany's finance ministers have written to the Irish presidency of the EU Council urging a bloc-wide windfall tax on oil companies. The ministers argue that extraordinary profits generated during the conflict should be recouped and used to cushion consumers.

Windfall-tax push reaches Brussels

The proposal would mark a significant shift in European energy policy if adopted, taking the response to the cost-of-living impact of the Iran war beyond national subsidy schemes and into the area of fiscal redistribution across the single market.

The ADAC has repeatedly pointed to the gap between wholesale and retail fuel prices in Germany as a structural driver of consumer pain, calling for greater transparency in how prices are set and passed on at the pump.

Economists say that even modest reductions in market prices will take time to reach consumers, because refiners and retailers tend to pass cost changes upward more quickly than they pass them downward.

What drivers can do in the meantime

For households, the practical effect is that commute costs, holiday travel and freight-dependent purchases are all more expensive than they were before the latest surge, with little sign of near-term relief.

The motor club urged drivers to compare prices across stations and to time refuelling carefully, while policymakers continue to weigh measures that could lower the effective price paid at the pump.

Any move by the EU on a windfall levy would need the backing of a qualified majority of member states, and the Irish presidency is expected to put the request on the agenda of an upcoming meeting of finance ministers.