Brussels – It is not just the Eurogroup; the Ecofin Council also addresses the issue of high energy prices: a shared problem prompting debate on joint responses. As Simon Harris, Finance Minister of Ireland, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, points out, “taxation is a national matter,” and there is no single way to tackle the rise in electricity, gas and fuel prices. “We could recalculate taxation, restructure excise duties, or even reduce income tax to restore households’ purchasing power.” These are all different measures, but they risk triggering tax competition between countries and a disorganised, overly fragmented response.
For this reason, Harris, in his capacity as the current president of the Ecofin Council, has decided to discuss the issue over lunch with the ministers. Germany and Austria are pushing for windfall taxes targeting energy companies’ profits, a measure which, however, does not enjoy unanimous support around the table; and it is precisely this increasingly pressing and urgent issue that the Irish presidency intends to bring to the table. “Energy is a problem for Ireland and for the European Union,” Dublin’s Finance Minister admits. The higher cost “is having an impact on general inflation.”
Of course, he acknowledges that the issue raised by Austria and Germany is not without merit: “Industry is under pressure due to high energy costs, while others are reaping huge profits” from this situation. A reference to the energy companies, to whom he issues a reminder: “At a domestic level [such as in Ireland] we have already introduced windfall profits taxes in the past,” and so a solution is possible. Amid the energy crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine, the aim now is to find a common, coordinated response.
The informal meeting in Dublin, by its very nature, is not a decision-making forum. For this reason, Harris decided to discuss the issue of rising energy prices today (18 September), to begin a joint debate in the hope that the formal meeting on 9 October might yield something concrete in this regard. Regardless of everything else, Harris has a message for the entire European public: “No government and no politician can fully absorb the rise in energy prices. To claim otherwise would be a lie.” This is yet another call for unified responses rather than national measures.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
