Six Member States of the European Union, including Portugal, requested the European Commission to create a common framework to tax the exceptional profits of oil companies. The request emerges in a context of high energy prices and criticism of oil companies for allegedly obtaining extraordinary profits.
The European Commission responded to the request indicating that the matter is not within its competence. In other words, the taxation of business profits is a question that falls under the individual Member States, not the European institution.
This position of the Commission means that each country will have to decide, autonomously, whether and how it intends to implement taxation measures on the exceptional profits of the energy sector, if it so wishes.
