Solidarity tax
Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain have also called on the Commission to propose a temporary tax on the windfall profits that some energy companies are making on the back of the crisis.
“Finding a European solution is the right approach,” the countries’ finance ministers wrote in a letter. “It would make it possible to finance temporary relief, especially for consumers, and curb rising inflation, without placing additional burdens on public budgets.”
Indebted governments, such as Italy, are under particular pressure. They’re struggling to find spare cash in the public purse to cushion the impact of the crisis, which is set to weigh on EU growth and push prices higher — a dreaded economic cocktail called stagflation.
A windfall tax would be easier to introduce under the EU’s emergency rules, which would only require a qualified majority to agree on the temporary measure. But the idea didn’t convince everyone during Monday’s College meeting among commissioners, the officials said, putting the onus on EU leaders to make a political decision when they meet next week.
At the very least, the Commission could share best practises and lessons learned from the last energy crisis in 2022 among EU capitals that want to pursue the solidarity tax.