The European Commission is moving toward a historic revival of emergency energy taxes as the 2026 Iran War sends fuel prices into a vertical climb.
Under intense pressure from a coalition of five member states—Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain—Brussels is currently assessing a new bloc-wide “windfall profit tax” on the oil and gas industry.
The move mirrors the 2022 “solidarity contribution” sparked by the Russia-Ukraine war, but with a critical new dimension: ministers are now demanding that the tax also capture the foreign profits of multinational energy giants.
The crisis has reached a breaking point following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz on March 4th, which has effectively “taken hostage” approximately 20% of the world’s seaborne crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
With Brent Crude surging past $120 per barrel and European gas storage at a precarious 30% capacity, the Commission warns that “unforeseen luck” from war-driven market distortions must not lead to a “highway robbery” of ordinary citizens.
While environmentalists argue that oil companies are raking in an extra €81.4 million daily within the European Union alone, industry bodies like FuelsEurope warn that repeated “extraordinary taxation” will devastate long-term energy security and stall the green transition.
