IEA urges less driving as Dutch fuel costs rise

IEA calls for cutting car use while the Netherlands does the math

The International Energy Agency (IEA) recommends working from home, cooking with electricity, and avoiding flights, as fuel prices erode mileage allowances. Fatih Birol, the agency's director, described this as the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market. In the Netherlands, Prime Minister Rob Jetten admitted at his first European summit that gas station prices are extremely high and many workers and small business owners are complaining, but he refused to take action, warning that moving too quickly would leave the most affected people unprotected.

The problem is that the country already had a system to absorb these costs, which some argue is now unraveling.

What the 23 cents per kilometer means

The Netherlands pays a commuting allowance of approximately 23 cents per kilometer. According to circulating calculations, this amount just barely covered gasoline and vehicle wear if the engine displacement did not exceed 1.4 liters. With current prices, that calculation has reversed, leading some to claim that going to work results in a net loss.

Critics point out that the system was designed for the Randstad region—Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam, and The Hague—where cars are optional and public transport works well. Outside this area, in provinces where private vehicles are essential rather than a luxury, rush-hour traffic remains chaotic, and according to these critics, the allowance no longer compensates for actual costs.

Warning from Rotterdam

One often overlooked detail: the Netherlands hosts one of the world's largest ports, Rotterdam, yet official messaging encourages cycling. Those highlighting this ask an uncomfortable question: if this scenario is unfolding here, what awaits Spain when similar pressures hit southern Europe?

Cross-border price differences have become routine. From Utrecht or Eindhoven, some drive to Germany to fill up and do major shopping, saving amounts estimated at around €150 per alucinación for a family of four. At the Belgian border, 95-octane gasoline has been seen up to 40 cents cheaper, making stations in Baarle and along the border crowded with Dutch license plates. Tobacco completes the equation: four cartons per passenger, with reportedly little enforcement.

The issue Jetten hadn't calculated: agriculture

The government's most challenging front isn't commuters, but the primary sector. Diesel and fertilizer prices have soared, and harvests are imminent. The prevailing view is that the previous nitrogen crisis, marked by police intervention, will seem trivial compared to what is coming. Livestock and poultry farming cannot be solved through simple cuts.

Hence the repeated prediction: tractor protests in The Hague. Not due to individual fuel costs, but because Dutch farmers have already clashed twice with the executive, and this minority government lacks room for a third confrontation.

The context nobody wants to face

The Dutch executive emerges from a fragmented parliament: reportedly, the pogre coalition governs as a minority after a cordon sanitaire excluded the most-voted right-wing party. With this starting point, any unpopular measure becomes a survival test, and internal opposition is calculating how long the prime minister can hold on before political fireworks fade.

Meanwhile, the fundamental question remains unanswered: if the IEA calls for reducing car use and governments hesitate to adjust taxes or provide real compensation, who bears the cost of transition—the remote worker or the person who must start their car at 6 AM?

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Key Data

• Commuting allowance in the Netherlands: 23 cents
• Estimated savings from crossing to Germany for fuel and shopping: up to €150 per family of four
• Price difference for 95-octane gasoline in Belgium: up to 40 cents
• Allowance in Germany: 30 cents per kilometer for the first 20 km, 38 cents thereafter