Small businesses want the Netherlands to hold back on raising petrol tax

The government should refrain from increasing excise duty on petrol because unfair competition is arising across the border in Belgium and Germany, where petrol is currently much cheaper, said Jacco Vonhof, the chair of the Dutch small and mid-sized business association, MKB-Nederland.

"From Amersfoort, it is cheaper to drive to Germany for your petrol and some groceries," he said on the radio program Sven op 1.

When the excise duty increases in January, the price of petrol will rise even further, by almost 21 cents per liter. Diesel will then become 13 cents more expensive per liter.

"Politicians must ensure a level playing field. It cannot be the case that one country uses completely different prices than another. This creates border effects," said the leader of the trade association for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Last weekend, Ewout Klok, the chair of filling station owners' group Belangenvereniging Tankstations (BETA), already warned that a further increase in the price of fuels would be "disastrous" for station owners, shopkeepers and supermarkets at the border region. The ANWB was also critical, and wants the outgoing Cabinet to intervene to prevent car fuels from becoming even more expensive.