Six European Union countries are pushing for discussions on an EU-wide framework to tax oil companies’ windfall profits as the energy price shock triggered by the Iran conflict adds to pressure on households and businesses.
Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland and Austria have asked Ireland, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, to put the issue on the agenda of the bloc’s finance ministers’ meeting in Dublin on Sept 18-19.
The proposal comes as oil prices have climbed about 25% since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran on Feb 28. Refined fuel prices have risen even more sharply, with European diesel prices up more than 70% while gasoline prices have increased by around 20%.
In a letter seen by Reuters, the six finance ministers said the bloc was facing one of the biggest supply shocks in decades and growing discontent over the rising cost of living.
“Government measures taken so far have not been sufficient to reduce or stabilise prices for businesses and citizens on a permanent basis. This is why we need a common approach, one that ensures that those who are profiting from the crisis do their part to ease the burden on the general public,” they said.
The ministers are seeking an EU-wide approach that would draw on lessons from the windfall profit measures introduced in 2022, while taking a more targeted look at how profits earned by multinational oil companies abroad could be included.
“To this end, we need to address the matter of high energy prices by discussing an EU-wide framework to tax windfall profits, taking into account lessons learned in 2022, this time with a more specific analysis of how the foreign profits of multinational oil companies can be included in a more targeted way,” the letter said.
The six countries also want the European Commission’s investigation into refinery margins to be completed as soon as possible, amid concerns that refiners could be benefiting from the current surge in energy prices.
The proposal now faces discussions among EU governments, with the Sept 18-19 finance ministers’ meeting set to provide an early opportunity for the bloc to consider a common response to the energy price shock.
Reuters
