Brussels has said it will raise more than €140bn from windfall taxes on energy companies’ profits to soften the blow of record high energy prices this winter.
With energy prices soaring in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and fears growing of shortages this winter, Brussels plans to funnel some of the windfall profits from energy companies back to households and businesses to lower bills.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that, “in our social market economy, profits are good. But in these times it is wrong to receive extraordinary record profits benefiting from war and on the back of consumers.”