EU proposals would see energy companies pay up after record profits

Brussels, Sept. 13, (dpa/GNA) - Oil, gas, coal, and refinery businesses in the EU may have to pay a solidarity contribution by the end of the year after cashing in drastically increased profits, according to a preliminary proposal by the EU commission. 

The proposal, seen by dpa, intends for the contribution to be paid retroactively on the profits of the year 2022, and for the money to be used to provide help to consumers and energy intensive industries. 

The proposal does not define the extent of the tax. Furthermore, the commission proposes mandatory energy saving goals, although the precise savings have also yet to be specified. 

The energy ministers of the EU member states had charged the EU commission with implementing their emergency plan with a series of measures to deal with the high energy prices. 

It is not clear yet when the proposals will be published, but it will be sometime this week. 

The proposal also does not yet cover a planned windfall tax on certain individual energy companies. In contrast to the solidarity contribution for fossil fuels, this would target businesses that use cheap sources to produce electricity, such as wind, solar, or nuclear energy. 

This enabled the producers to profit from electricity prices that had risen in line with gas prices, without their own production costs necessarily increasing. 

These companies will have to surrender the profits they make above a given upper limit. While this limit has not been decided, it will be implemented throughout the EU, and past proposals suggested something in the range of €200 ($202) per megawatt hour. 

The proposal intends to introduce a temporary electricity price cap, not just for consumers, but also for small and mid-sized businesses. The various measures will be in place until March 2023. 

GNA