A tax on oil companies’ windfall profits in the context of the war in the Middle East will not be added to the agenda of the informal meeting of economic and financial affairs ministers to be held in Dublin on 18 and 19 September, indicated a diplomatic source on Tuesday 25 August. This was despite the request of six European Union Member States – Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Italy – which sent a letter to this effect to Irish Finance Minister Simon Harris on 21 August (see EUROPE 13922/11).
However, their request will not be ignored, a spokesperson for the Irish Presidency assured. “Governments across Europe are rightly attentive to developments in energy markets and their impact on households, businesses and the wider economy”, he told Agence Europe on Tuesday 25 August. “The Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance) will discuss with European ministerial colleagues the most appropriate way to take forward the issues raised in their letter”, he said.
German Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil appears to have made this issue a priority. He “has on several occasions already made clear that energy companies are not allowed to rip off consumers during the current crisis. Excessive crisis profits have to be returned to consumers”, the German Federal Ministry of Finance told Agence Europe on 24 August, indicating that “there is an ongoing dialogue on this matter”. (Original version in French by Nadège Delépine)