European Union leaders are likely to give the green light to the European Commission's proposal to impose a temporary tax on energy companies' windfall profits linked to soaring gas and electricity prices, according to Bloomberg.
EU heads of government are due to discuss the issue at a summit starting Thursday, along with measures to support vulnerable consumers from the effects of the energy crisis, which has worsened since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
European leaders will discuss a set of solutions outlined by the European Commission to mitigate the impact of the price spike, possibly supporting the use of a new state aid framework, according to a draft joint statement cited by Bloomberg.
"As proposed by the Commission, temporary taxation of windfall profits may be a useful source of financing," the statement said, which, however, could be changed before it is approved.
The European Commission has "pointed" in the direction of such a tax in recent weeks, noting that the profits of some energy companies that are not gas-dependent and therefore do not face extremely high production costs could be subject to similar special measures, providing revenue to support consumers.
Current market conditions could lead to excess profits of up to €200 billion in the EU for gas, coal, nuclear, hydropower, electricity, gas and electricity. Referring to the energy crisis and the government's moves, the prime minister noted that politics must act against international speculation and the market must return to normality so that prices are set according to the rules of supply and demand. He thus stressed that companies have an obligation to deposit a share of their cyclical profits to remove the turmoil.
"Neither I nor the economic staff will hesitate to legislate an extraordinary levy on the excess profits of energy companies, the prime minister said, stressing that decisions will be taken when the RAE's findings are released.
Source: protothema.gr
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