The Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) is in favour of extending the reduction on fuel prices beyond 31 July because the effects of inflation “reach far into the middle class,” MP Gilles Roth said on Tuesday morning in an interview with our colleagues from RTL Radio.
Roth pointed out that similar decisions are being taken abroad and that many people “are dependent on their cars,” especially those living in rural areas. Driving a car “is not the privilege of a happy few,” the MP said, stressing that “driving a car must remain affordable”. Roth claimed that the CSV wants to be “pragmatic instead of ideological”. In contrast to the Green Party, Roth said, the CSV does not want to support a petrol price of over €2.
The fact that fewer people fill up their tanks in Luxembourg since Germany has also decided to reduce fuel prices has to be seen from an economic perspective as well, Roth stressed. According to the CSV MP, “fuel tourism” generates €1 billion per year for the state budget, something which “the Green Party in particular does not like to hear”. “The climate does not care whether people fill up their tank in Schengen or in Perl,” Roth added. While everybody agrees that Luxembourg needs to move away from fuel tourism, alternatives are needed, according to the MP. But the government, he argued, has no alternatives to offer.
The CSV also wants to reduce excise duties and taxes to help the population, with Roth arguing that in times like this “the state should not be making more money”. Roth is also in favour of granting the energy bonus to a greater number of people.
Roth also discussed the introduction of a potential vaccine mandate in Luxembourg but hesitated to give a clear answer. The Co-President of the CSV’s parliamentary group stated that compared to January, the situation is different as the current Omicron variants generally cause less severe courses of the disease. Roth described a vaccine mandate as “a significant interference” that must be “absolutely necessary” if it is implemented. The MP criticised the government for not preparing the legal framework in advance. In the future, Luxembourg needs a pandemic law to be prepared for emergency situations, Roth stated.
The CSV recently went through a rebranding. The Co-President of the CSV’s parliamentary group explained that the party now has a new, more equal leadership system and a new logo. However, Roth stated that people should not “overanalyse the colours”, adding that logos are always “a matter of personal taste”. Roth personally thinks that the colours work well and that they “perhaps” reflect “something new, something modern”. Ultimately, Roth concluded, the party now has to try to “get its messages across and take care of the people’s concerns”.
