Six European countries call for a windfall tax on oil company profits

According to Ecoiran, citing Tasnim and a Euronews report published Tuesday, Shahrivar 3, 1405 (August 25, 2026), the finance ministers of Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland and Portugal, along with Spain's economy minister, sent a joint letter to Ireland's finance minister, who holds the EU's rotating presidency, calling for a windfall tax on oil company profits to be discussed at next month's EU finance ministers meeting in Dublin.

The letter, obtained by Euronews, said oil company profits have surged amid the Middle East war, and the signatories called for using the EU's temporary 2022 windfall tax, imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as a model. German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said energy companies must not take advantage of consumers during the current crisis. The EU has not yet outlined any plan to impose such a tax.