– Many are now struggling to make ends meet. Ordinary families with children and ordinary jobs are no longer able to pay their bills, says MDG leader Arild Hermstad. Today, he and fiscal spokesperson Lan Marie Berg present the party’s alternative state budget for next year. And there are startling new tones from the MDG: While the party has increased petrol taxes by NOK 5 since 2016, it is now content to increase them by NOK 1. – We see that a very high petrol price affects families with low and medium incomes who cannot afford to replace their fossil fuel car with a modern electric car, says Hermstad. The petrol price currently varies between around NOK 20 and 25. It is far more expensive than Norwegians have been used to in the past. CHARGES: The Norwegian car fleet is becoming increasingly electrified, but there are still many fossil fuel cars on the roads. Photo: Jon Olav Nesvold / NTB Tax package In the government’s budget proposal, which is now being negotiated in the Storting, several changes were made to the so-called use taxes on cars. According to the government, the sum of increased and reduced user fees means that a normal petrol car must drive over 40,000 kilometers for a motorist to come out worse overall. – When did MDG start caring about people who have fossil-fuel cars? – We have always done that, but of course we have followed carefully that the alternatives to the fossil car have now become more accessible. And we lower the price of public transport, so that the climate policy is fair, says Hermstad. PARTY LEADER: Arild Hermstad. Photo: Emilie Holtet / NTB – Is this a completely new course for you? – It is an adaptation to the fact that reality has changed. Petrol prices are now very much higher than they are normally, says Hermstad, and adds: – Sitting in a fossil car can also be a poverty trap, so we think that we should take those climate cuts in other sectors. – But surely this move also responds well to the criticism in the evaluation of the election in 2021 that the MDGs were too harsh and extreme? – We are still quite clear that we must take the climate cuts. But some families cannot afford to replace a fossil-fuel car with an electric car, and when the price of petrol is as high as it is now, this is not a climate measure that will be successful. The Progress Party – which fights hard against increased car taxes – has the following to say about the MDG’s reversal: – They don’t need to be extreme anymore to influence politics in their direction, says Frps Roy Steffensen in the finance committee at the Storting. – Despite record high fuel prices, Vedum has already increased the petrol tax by around NOK 1 since the Støre government took office. MDG has probably realized that they can claim a partial victory here, contribute to dampening the debate climate around fuel taxes and rather concentrate on other issues, says Steffensen about MDG’s about-face. TAXES: The Progress Party’s Roy Steffensen wants car taxes down. Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB Action in expensive times In previous years, MDG had a combination of a so-called road use tax and an increased CO2 tax, which together resulted in an increase in the pump price of NOK 5. Now the party is collecting NOK 380 million by increasing the CO2 tax on petrol and diesel by 50 per cent next year. At the same time, the MDG reverses the government’s proposal to “zero out” the CO2 tax increase of 1 billion. Hermstad points out that the MDGs also take several other measures to make living cheaper and to live environmentally friendly. The party will introduce a national travel card for NOK 499 on public transport journeys. The MDG cuts food VAT in half and removes it completely on fruit and vegetables, organic food and reuse. And the MDG greatly increases child benefit and provides free nursery school for low-income families. – What does this mean in terms of increased tax and increased fees? – With our scheme, eight out of ten families in Norway get lower taxes. Then we increase taxes for those with the highest income, says Hermstad.
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MDG reverses – increases petrol taxes by “only” 1 kroner – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
