Following the historic record of 2.204 euros per litre on Italian motorways, the Meloni government decided at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday to extend the diesel price cap. As documented in our report on the record figure, the average price in the preceding week had already exceeded the previous high recorded in March 2022 and threatened to rise further without state intervention. The Council of Ministers has extended the flat-rate reduction in excise duty of 17 cents per litre of diesel until 5 September 2026. What this means for travellers, how the political debate is developing, and what will happen after early September, here is an overview.
The Council of Ministers' Decision
The session of the Consiglio dei Ministri on 26 August 2026 lasted, by all accounts, only around 15 minutes. As the Italian news agency Sky TG24 cited from the Palazzo Chigi communiqué, the existing reduction of 17 cents per litre of diesel was extendedfrom 27 August to 5 September 2026, at a total cost of approximately 130 million euros. The reduction applies exclusively to diesel and not to petrol, even though the motorway petrol price, at 2.088 euros per litre, also sits well above the historical average.
The financing of the extension relies on a technical mechanism that brings forward the advance payment of taxes on dividends from Italy's major energy companies, in particular Eni, by around 39 per cent. The companies concerned receive a corresponding tax credit in return, which is offset in subsequent months. As the financial portal Quifinanza documents in its analysis of the government's decision, this is an instrument the government had already employed in 2023 during the dispute over the tassa sugli extraprofitti for banks, without formally introducing a windfall tax.
The Coalition Dispute
The extension is conceived as a misura tampone , that is, a short-term stopgap with no structural effect. In the background, a conflict is playing out within the governing coalition over the introduction of a windfall tax on the excess profits of banks and energy companies, which would enable a more lasting and substantial reduction in fuel prices. As the daily newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano reports from the political debate, the Lega under Matteo Salvini is calling for the introduction of such a tax, while Forza Italia under Antonio Tajani is firmly opposed, describing it as "tasse di stampo sovietico" (taxes after the Soviet model).
The opposition has been sharply critical of the extension. M5S leader Giuseppe Conte described the measure as "sconticino" and "beffa", that is, a trivial discount and a mockery of consumers. PD secretary Elly Schlein accused the government of "scarso coraggio" , a lack of courage, arguing that it is more concerned with criticism from Tajani than with the daily burden on motorists. The consumer associations Codacons and Unione Nazionale Consumatori speak of "mezza pezza per il gasolio e nulla cosmico per la benzina", in other words, half a plaster for diesel and nothing whatsoever for petrol, and are calling for a structural reform of Italian fuel taxation.
What Comes After 5 September
For the period following 5 September, the government has announced a structural measure that is intended to replace the flat-rate reduction with targeted assistance. As several government representatives, including Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, have stated in the hours following the decision, the new measures are to be "selettivi sulla base del reddito" , that is, graduated according to income bracket. Concrete details are still lacking, but it is expected that commuters, small haulage firms, and low-income families will be at the centre of the new arrangements.
The total cost of the excise duty reductions to date amounts, according to calculations by several economic analysts, to approximately two billion euros so far, with comparatively limited effects on the final price at the pump. As the Italian news portal Il Post notes in its analysis of the Meloni government's fuel policythe across-the-board reduction is politically sensitive, as it is tied to a historic campaign promise made by the Prime Minister to structurally lower excise duties on fuel. Whether and how this commitment will be translated into a permanent arrangement by 5 September is one of the central political questions of the coming week.
What travellers should know now
For travellers driving in Italy over the next few days, the current discount of 17 cents per litre of diesel applies until 5 September. The average price on the motorway currently stands at 2.204 euros per litre of diesel and 2.088 euros for petrol. As the table of current fuel prices in Italy shows, the actual price varies considerably depending on the region and motorway. Anyone wishing to fill up in Italy after 5 September should expect a price increase of up to 17 cents per litre, should no new arrangement come into force or should any new arrangement not cover travellers without an Italian place of residence.
For practical purposes the well-established recommendations from the record-breaking report continue to apply. Regular petrol stations away from the motorway are considerably cheaper than motorway service stations, typically by 8 to 15 cents per litre, and on a longer journey it is worth the brief detour off the motorway to a regular town petrol station. Those looking for a comprehensive comparison of motoring costs in Italy versus Germany will find further practical guidance on tolls, vignettes, low-emission zones and fuel prices in our reference article.
