EU finance ministers demand windfall tax on energy firms as oil hits $100 a barrel amid Strait of Hormuz crisis

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

Germany's finance minister Lars Klingbeil has called on the European Commission to table a windfall tax on oil companies within a month, telling fellow EU ministers in Dublin that firms are "exploiting the situation" as oil futures push back past $100 a barrel — roughly half again what they were before the Iran war. Six member states have backed the proposal, with Ireland's Tánaiste Simon Harris, chairing the Eurogroup, raising the alarm about a "dawning reality" in which a handful of companies are reaping extraordinary profits solely because the Strait of Hormuz is closed. With European elections approaching in eight EU countries next year, leaders are racing to get ahead of public anger over record pump prices.

Diesel has hit a record €2.45 a litre in Germany and €2.78 in the Netherlands, while EU petrol prices are 24% above last year.

European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde warned energy prices are a 'significant variable' threatening the ECB's 2% inflation target.