Major countries of the European Union supported the proposal of Spain to introduce a tax on the super-profits of oil companies. The idea is for Brussels to allow the taxation of additional profits of large energy companies to cover costs related to the crisis around Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.
The finance ministers of Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland and Portugal, as well as the economy minister of Spain, Carlos Cuerpo, sent a letter on Saturday to the Irish presidency of the EU Council proposing the start of discussions on the possible taxation of super-profits that large energy companies are earning amid the crisis around the Strait of Hormuz. In the letter, they called for this issue to be included on the agenda of the informal meeting of EU finance ministers to be held next month in Dublin.
The document states that “oil companies are demonstrating global profitability, and their margins on petroleum products are growing faster than crude oil prices”. The authors of the letter also emphasize that “we are experiencing one of the largest supply shocks in decades, and worldwide dissatisfaction is growing due to the rising cost of living”.
The six countries call for the start of discussions on “a framework system at the EU level for taxing super-profits” and propose using the experience of the temporary tax introduced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Profits of oil giants are sharply increasing
According to the organization Oxfam Intermón, the six largest oil companies will almost double their combined net profit in the second quarter of 2026 — from 23 billion dollars to 45 billion dollars.
According to these forecasts, the combined profit of BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies for the entire 2026 will amount to 147 billion dollars (126 billion euros). This is more than their combined profit for the previous 21 months — from the second quarter of 2024 to the fourth quarter of 2025.
In particular, Oxfam predicts that Chevron will announce a fourfold increase in profit over the last three months — to a level of more than 1,000 euros of profit per second. According to the organization’s forecast, ExxonMobil‘s profit could triple — to 1,540 euros per second.
EU and Spain’s experience with taxes on super-profits
In 2022, the EU adopted a regulation that obliged member states to introduce a “solidarity contribution” of at least 33% on the super-profits of oil, gas, coal and oil refining companies or to apply an equivalent national measure. Extraordinary profits were considered those that exceeded the average for 2018–2021 by more than 20%. They were linked to the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which, in turn, caused the need to increase government spending in various sectors.
Fifteen member states directly applied the formula proposed by the European Commission. The Spanish government, however, chose a special tax on the total turnover of companies as an “equivalent measure”. Ultimately, this approach did not receive the necessary parliamentary support to extend its validity in 2025. Recently, the National Court of Spain (Audiencia Nacional) also ruled in favor of Repsol in a case related to this special tax.
At the time, the government of Spain expanded the interpretation of the possibilities provided by European rules and applied this measure also to electricity companies, seeking to increase budget revenues. This allowed them to collect more than 2.8 billion euros over two years.
The government also tried to turn the temporary measure into a permanent one, as was done with the bank tax. However, due to the position of the Junts party, this initiative was ultimately not implemented.
Source: ABC.es
