Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland are planning to petition the European Commission to delay regulations aimed at “dramatically” raising the cost of fossil fuel-based fuels starting in 2028, Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas said on Wednesday.
“The Baltic prime ministers have discussed this among themselves, and Poland has also expressed interest in asking the European Commission to postpone the overhaul of the so-called emissions allowance system, because that would lead to drastic increases in fuel prices,” Paluckas told reporters.
The relevant EU directive requires a faster increase in the carbon dioxide component of polluting fuels. Paluckas has said previously that the result would be “dramatically higher” fuel prices in 2029 and 2030.
In an open letter on Wednesday, more than 20 business organisations called for a review of the Lithuanian government’s fuel excise tax policy, with a pause of the hike planned for 2026, and an agreement with Poland, Latvia and Estonia on an alignment of their policies in this regard.
The Lithuanian PM said that the situation “isn’t all that dramatic this year,” adding that the excise revenue plan is on track. Paluckas would not, however, rule out a review of the excise policy in 2026.
The prime minister is unsure whether countries will agree on a joint appeal to the commission, but he emphasised that Brussels must respond, because a sharp hike in fuel prices would make Lithuanian businesses less competitive.
The CO2 component for fossil fuels has been in effect since the beginning of 2025, and the result is that the excise tax on petrol has been raised by 10.1%, on diesel by 26.7%, on marked diesel by 41.7%, and on liquefied petroleum gas by around 22%.
Lithuania also has a Defence Fund Law which was adopted last year and which led to an increase in excise duties on petrol, diesel, green farm diesel, oil gas and other energy products by 6 euro cents per litre (excluding VAT) in January.
The organisations which signed the letter argue that this increase means that Lithuania’s excise duty of EUR 0.52/l is the highest in the region.
Source: BNS
(Reproduction of BNS information in mass media and other websites without written consent of BNS is prohibited)
