MEP Alvise Pérez (NI) asks Commission to rule out linking EU funds to fuel tax hikes in Spain

Spanish MEP Alvise Pérez (NI) has submitted a written parliamentary question to the European Commission, challenging any EU pressure on Spain to withdraw fuel-tax relief or harmonise fuel taxation following an International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommendation. The question, filed on 26 May 2026, targets the Commission's role in the European Semester and fiscal surveillance, warning that such moves would harm workers, self-employed people, rural families and lower-income households who depend on private transport.

The IMF reportedly urged Spain on 22 May 2026 to phase out broad fuel and energy support measures and harmonise VAT rates, while recommending targeted protection for vulnerable households. Spain had adopted temporary fuel-tax relief after March 2026 energy price tensions, including a VAT cut on fuels from 21% to 10% and a reduction of hydrocarbon duties to EU minimum levels. In normal conditions, taxes accounted for around 50% of the final petrol price and 43% of diesel in Spain in 2025.

Policy orientation and expected follow-up Pérez frames the issue as a matter of fiscal sovereignty, arguing that removing fuel relief is not a neutral fiscal adjustment but an immediate increase in the cost of working, transporting goods and accessing basic services. He explicitly warns that EU economic governance must not become an instrument for pushing Member States into fiscal harmonisation or indirect tax increases against their citizens.

The Commission is expected to reply within approximately six weeks. Its answer will signal whether it endorses the IMF's recommendations or respects Spain's fiscal autonomy on fuel taxation, and whether it will consider the distributive impact on vulnerable groups before supporting any tax increases.