Six EU countries seek oil windfall tax

The finance ministers of Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland, Portugal, and Spain have sent a joint letter to Republic of Ireland's finance minister, urging the European Union to consider a bloc-wide windfall tax on oil companies. The letter, prompted by surging oil company profits amid the Middle East war, calls for the issue to be placed on the agenda of the next meeting of EU finance ministers in Dublin. The ministers argue that oil companies are enjoying profitability and margins on refined products that exceed the rise in crude oil prices, and that the bloc is experiencing one of the biggest supply shocks in decades. They propose an EU-wide framework to tax windfall profits, drawing on lessons from a similar measure introduced in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil has been a vocal proponent, stating that energy companies must not exploit consumers and that excessive crisis profits should be returned to consumers. However, the EU has not yet indicated it will impose such a levy, and there are divisions within Germany, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU opposing the measure. The initiative comes as energy companies have seen earnings soar since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran in February, disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.