Six EU countries call for a tax on oil companies’ windfall profits: Italia is among them
The initiative is said to have been launched by the German Finance Minister, Lars Klingbeil
Six European Union countries – including Italia – are calling for an EU-wide tax on windfall profits for oil companies, whose profits have soared as a result of the war in the Middle East, according to a letter seen by AFP on Saturday.
The finance ministers of Germany, Italia, Austria, Poland and Portugal, together with the Spanish Minister for the Economy, are reported to have sent the joint letter to the Irish Minister for Finance, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU.
According to reports, the initiative was launched by the German Finance Minister, Lars Klingbeil, and the ministers have called for the issue of a tax to be included on the agenda of a meeting of the bloc’s finance ministers in Dublin next month.
“Oil companies are enjoying overall profitability and margins on refined products that exceed the rise in crude oil prices,” the letter states. “We are experiencing one of the biggest supply shocks of recent decades, and discontent is growing worldwide over the rising cost of living.”
The previous one
The ministers called for discussions on a “European-level framework for taxing windfall profits”, taking into account the lessons learnt from the introduction of a similar measure in 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. German Minister Klingbeil has repeatedly emphasised that energy companies must not “exploit” consumers during the current crisis, a ministry source told AFP. “Excess profits arising from the crisis must be returned to consumers,” the source said.
