Finance and economy ministers from Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain are pressing for the European Commission to impose windfall taxes on energy companies as they profit from the crisis caused by the Iran war, dpa learnt on Saturday.
The ministers point to a solidarity levy imposed during the energy crisis that followed the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 in a letter addressed to Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra.
The commission should rapidly introduce a similar EU-wide instrument based on solid legal foundations, given the current market distortions and financial pressures, the letter said.
An EU-wide solution would signal to EU citizens and business that the bloc was standing and acting together to compel those profiting from the war to make their contribution to easing the burden.
The proceeds should be used to finance measures to ease the burden on consumers and to limit price rises without imposing additional burdens on EU budgets, it said.
At least 7 dead as Israel renews attacks on Beirut and across Lebanon- Conquering Social Generalizations: Individual Accounts of Strengthening
- France's Senate backs ban on social media platforms for under-15s
- Vote in favor of the Top Vegetable for Senior
- What's inside Mexico's Popocatépetl? Scientists obtain first 3D images of the whole volcano
- What do scientists hope to learn from NASA's historic Artemis 2 moon flyby?
- Novo and Lilly cut prices of weight-loss drugs in China
- Vote In favor of Your Favored Language Interpretation Administration
- Does physics say that free will doesn't exist?
