Six EU Countries Seek Tax on Oil Company Windfall Profits

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Six EU Countries Seek Tax on Oil Company Windfall Profits?

Of the 50 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 28% are rated left, 34% are rated centre, 38% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 110. 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?

Neither side dominates it. Of the 50 rated outlets on this story, 28% are rated left, 34% are rated centre, 38% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.

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 110 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?

110 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.