The lower taxation of diesel fuel in Germany cost the country billions of euros in 2019, newspaper Rheinische Post reports.

In response to a parliamentary inquiry from the Green Party, the finance ministry (BMF) reported that the treasury “technically speaking” could have earned 5.9 billion euro more between January and September last year if diesel taxes were as high as taxes for other types of fuel. Since the government’s answer only covers the first nine months of 2019, the Green Party estimates the total figure for 2019 at about 7.1 billion euro, according to CLEW.

The Greens’ budget expert, Sven-Christian Kindler, told the newspaper that subsidies like the tax privilege for diesel fuel mean that “we will never ever reach the climate goals.”

All sorts of climate-damaging subsidies in transport need to be stopped, Kindler said. “Nobody understands why diesel fuel is supported with taxpayers’ money and why kerosene still is not taxed at all.”

According to the BMF’s answer, the lack of a kerosene tax cost the state about 580 million euro in 2019.