(1) A Market Transparency Unit for Fuels shall be set up at the Bundeskartellamt. It shall monitor the value creation stages of the production of and the trade in fuels in order to facilitate the detection and sanctioning by the competition authorities of infringements of Sections 1, 19 and 20 of this Act and of Articles 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). It shall perform its duties in accordance with the provisions set out in subsections (2) to (9).
(2) Operators of public petrol stations that offer fuels to end consumers at self-set prices are required, subject to the statutory instrument referred to in subsection (8), to report
1. any changes in their fuel prices in real time and separately for each type of fuel and
2. the fuel quantities sold during a given period separately for each type of fuel
to the Market Transparency Unit for Fuels.
(3) Fuels for the purposes of this provision shall mean petrol and diesel fuels. Public petrol stations shall include any service stations that are located at places accessible to the general public and that may be accessed without restrictions as to certain groups of persons.
(4) If there is any indication that an undertaking is in violation of the legal provisions referred to in subsection (1), the Market Transparency Unit for Fuels shall immediately inform the competent competition authority and refer the issue to it. To this end, or if requested by a competition authority, it shall immediately transfer to the authority all the information and data requested or required by the competition authority for the purpose of fulfilling its tasks under this Act. The Market Transparency Unit for Fuels shall also provide the data collected pursuant to subsection (2) to the following authorities and bodies:
1. the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy for statistical and evaluation purposes, and
2. the Monopolies Commission for the purpose of fulfilling its tasks under this Act.
The Market Transparency Unit for Fuels may provide location information, aggregated or older data also to other authorities and bodies of the directly competent federal and Land administration for the purpose of fulfilling their statutory duties; however, data on quantities shall be aggregated to the extent required to protect the individual operators' business secrets.
(5) Subject to the statutory instrument pursuant to subsection (8), the Market Transparency Unit for Fuels shall be authorised to pass on the price data collected pursuant to subsection (2) electronically to providers of consumer information services for the purpose of informing consumers. When publishing or passing on these price data to consumers, the providers of consumer information services shall abide by the requirements specified in more detail in the statutory instrument referred to in subsection (8) no 5. If these requirements are not satisfied, the Market Transparency Unit for Fuels shall be authorised to refrain from passing on the data.
(6) The Market Transparency Unit for Fuels shall ensure the operational reliability of the data monitoring and the confidentiality, integrity and protection of the incoming information.
(7) For the purpose of fulfilling its tasks, the Market Transparency Unit for Fuels shall have the powers set out in Sections 59, 59a and 59b.
(8) The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy shall be authorised to impose certain requirements regarding the reporting obligations provided for in subsection (2) and the passing on of the price data pursuant to subsection (5) by way of a statutory instrument not requiring the consent of the Bundesrat, in particular
1. to issue more detailed provisions on the exact timing or period and the type and form of reporting the data pursuant to subsection (2);
2. to determine appropriate de minimis thresholds for the reporting duty under subsection (2) and to provide for more detailed provisions as regards a voluntary submission to the reporting duties under subsection (2) where the relevant thresholds are not reached;
3. to issue more detailed provisions on the requirements applicable to providers of consumer information services as referred to in subsection (5);
4. to issue more detailed provisions on the content, type, form and scope of the passing-on of price data by the Market Transparency Unit for Fuels to the providers referred to in subsection (5); as well as
5. to issue more detailed provisions on the content, type, form and scope of the publication or passing-on of price data to consumers by the providers of consumer information services as referred to in subsection (5).
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy must transmit the statutory instrument to the Bundestag. The statutory instrument may be amended or rejected by resolution of the Bundestag. Any amendments or a rejection shall be communicated by the Bundestag to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. If the Bundestag has not dealt with the statutory instrument within three weeks of sittings following its receipt, the consent of the Bundestag shall be deemed to have been granted.
(9) Decisions by the Market Transparency Unit for Fuels shall be taken by the person heading the unit. Section 51(5) shall apply mutatis mutandis to all members of staff of the Market Transparency Unit for Fuels.