Six EU Countries Seek Tax on Oil Company Windfall Profits
Ministers propose placing the issue on the agenda for an upcoming EU finance ministers' meeting.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Foto: GettyImages
Photograph: Digi 24 (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Six EU countries have jointly called for a tax on the exceptional profits of oil companies.
- The request was made in a letter to the Irish minister holding the EU presidency.
- Ministers argue that oil companies' current profitability exceeds the rise in crude oil prices.
- The countries want the issue added to the agenda for a meeting of EU finance ministers.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 8 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 1 of the 9 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
60/100
Craft
65/100
Hype
45/100
9 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
Only 1 of the 8 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Six member states of the European Union have requested the introduction of an EU-wide tax on the exceptional profits of oil companies. The countries include Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland, Portugal, and Spain. They sent a joint letter to the Irish minister currently holding the rotating EU presidency, asking for the matter to be placed on the agenda for a meeting of EU finance ministers scheduled for next month.
The ministers stated in their letter that oil companies are currently experiencing profitability and margins on refined products that exceed the increase in crude oil prices. They highlighted that the situation is occurring amidst one of the largest supply shocks in decades, leading to growing global discontent over the rising cost of living.
Disagreement on the cause of increased profits
The letter from the six EU countries states that oil companies are experiencing profitability and margins that exceed the rise in crude oil prices. Digi 24, in its full report, quotes a source from the German Finance Ministry stating that 'excessive crisis-related profits must be returned to consumers'. La Stampa, in its full report, notes that the war in Iran is presenting a bill to Europe, and that oil companies are beneficiaries of the surge in energy prices and increased margins caused by the crisis. However, the digests from Il Sole 24 Ore, ANSA, El Debate, El Mundo, and Le Figaro do not specify the cause of the increased profits, only that the companies are experiencing them.
What the coverage left out
None of the centre or right-rated digests mention the specific figure of $11.2 billion in profits that TotalEnergies raised in the first half of the year, as reported by La Tribune, an unrated outlet. The digests from the centre and right-rated outlets also do not mention the specific detail that the ministers are requesting the issue be placed on the agenda for a meeting of EU finance ministers next month, a fact present in the full report from Digi 24 and mentioned in the ANSA digest.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 22 Aug 2026, 19:45, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
1 rated outlet
- La Stampa, the sole left-rated report, led with the demand for a tax on exceptional profits, framing it as a necessity so that 'the crisis does not pay for citizens and businesses'. The report highlighted that the initiative originated from Berlin, with German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil signing the letter. It detailed how the proposed tax would aim to recover a portion of the exceptional gains produced by the crisis to alleviate the energy burden on citizens and companies. La Stampa also noted that the EU had previously introduced a temporary solidarity contribution on excess profits following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, suggesting a precedent for the current proposal. The report quoted Augusta Montaruli, Vice-Group Leader of Fratelli d’Italia at the Chamber of Deputies, who supported the call for a community taxation of extra-profits to curb petrol prices.
Centre
3 rated outlets
- The centre-rated reports from Digi 24, ANSA, and La Libre focused on the core news that six EU countries are calling for a tax on exceptional profits of oil companies. Digi 24, in its full report, provided more detail, stating that the companies' profitability and margins exceed the rise in crude oil prices and that the request was made in a letter to the Irish minister holding the EU presidency. It also mentioned that the ministers want the issue placed on the agenda for a finance ministers' meeting. ANSA and La Libre, in their digests, also conveyed the main point of the six countries' request. La Libre's digest noted that the rise in energy prices could lead to a tax battle within the EU, with member states still divided on the subject.
Right
4 rated outlets
- The right-rated reports from Il Sole 24 Ore, El Debate, El Mundo, and Le Figaro all highlighted that six EU countries, including Italy and Spain, are demanding a tax on the exceptional profits of oil companies. El Debate's headline specifically mentioned Spain and five other EU countries advocating for an extraordinary tax on energy companies. Le Figaro's digest quoted the letter stating that 'oil companies benefit from overall profitability and margins on refined products which exceed the rise in crude oil prices'. El Mundo's digest also mentioned that the profits stem from the war in the Middle East. Il Sole 24 Ore's digest confirmed Italy's participation in the call for the tax.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Six EU Countries Seek Tax on Oil Company Windfall Profits?
- Of the 8 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 13% are rated left, 37% are rated centre, 50% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 9. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Six EU Countries Seek Tax on Oil Company Windfall Profits left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 8 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Six EU Countries Seek Tax on Oil Company Windfall Profits biased?
- Six EU Countries Seek Tax on Oil Company Windfall Profits is one event reported by 9 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Six EU Countries Seek Tax on Oil Company Windfall Profits?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Six EU Countries Seek Tax on Oil Company Windfall Profits?
- 9 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Which EU countries are calling for a tax on oil company profits?
- Six EU countries have called for a tax on the exceptional profits of oil companies. These countries are Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland, Portugal, and Spain. They have sent a joint letter to the Irish minister holding the EU presidency to request this measure.
- Why are these countries proposing a tax on oil companies?
- The ministers argue that oil companies are experiencing profitability and margins that exceed the rise in crude oil prices. They believe these companies are benefiting from the current supply shock and the resulting increase in the cost of living, and that these exceptional profits should be taxed.
- What is the next step for this proposal?
- The six countries want the issue of taxing exceptional oil company profits to be placed on the agenda for a meeting of EU finance ministers. This meeting is scheduled to take place next month in Dublin.
Read it at the source
9 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
1Centre
3- Six EU Countries Demand Tax on Extra Profit Oil Companies, Even Italy (opens ANSA in a new tab)
- Six EU Countries Call for Exceptional Profits to Be Taxed by Oil Companies as a Result of the Middle East War (opens Digi 24 in a new tab)
- War in the Middle East: Six EU Countries Want to Tax Oil Companies' "Exceptional Profits" (opens La Libre in a new tab)
Right
4- Six EU Countries Demand Tax on Extra-Profit Oil Companies: Also Italy (opens Il Sole 24 Ore in a new tab)
Il Sole 24 Ore — is Il Sole 24 Ore biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Spain and Five More EU Countries Advocate Imposing an Extraordinary Tax on Energy Companies (opens El Debate in a new tab)
- Six EU Countries Call for an Extraordinary Tax on Companies in the Energy Sector (opens El Mundo in a new tab)
- Six EU Countries, Including Germany, Demand an Exceptional Tax on Oil Companies (opens Le Figaro in a new tab)
Not rated
1How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
