Mickoski Announces Six More Months of the Oil Crisis Regime: When Does the Emergency Become the Norm?

The state of crisis for oil and petroleum products will last another six months. Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski announced it in response to a reporter's question: "God willing, there will be de-escalation and things will calm down, so we can end the state of crisis. But we will extend the state of crisis for another six months, I think until April."

The current state of crisis expires on October 20. It was introduced after the events in the Middle East that blocked supplies of oil and petroleum products on international markets, and Parliament has already extended it twice - first to July 21, then to October 20. In July the decision passed with 88 votes in favor, with not a single vote against or abstention. The new extension is so far only an announcement. Parliament has to give the green light again.

The state of crisis gives the government a legal mechanism for faster, coordinated management of supply and of price measures. In parallel, the measure cutting VAT on diesel from 18 to 10 percent has been extended by another eight days, to October 20, and excise duties on gasoline and diesel were cut earlier. Mickoski leaves open the possibility of ending the state of crisis sooner if markets calm down.

If it is extended to April, this will be the third extension in a row. At that point it is hard to keep calling it an emergency measure - the crisis becomes the way things are governed. Nobody disputes that citizens and businesses need fuel measures. But when the emergency gets extended on autopilot, and prices at the pump have changed several times over recent months, someone needs to state clearly by what criteria a crisis begins and by what criteria it ends.

In July, Parliament voted the extension through without a single vote against. Will MPs ask the government this time what exactly it did with the powers from the previous extensions - or will they press "yes" again and move on?