New York (AFP)
The American group “Exxon-Mobil” has appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union to stop a tax recently imposed by the conglomerate on the “windfall profits” of the energy giants, and could, in its opinion, lead to “hindering investments”. ”
This tax, known as the “transitional solidarity contribution”, was approved at the end of September. It has been imposed on producers and distributors of oil, gas and coal, who have made huge profits from rising energy prices.
The plan allows European Union countries to levy taxes on 33% of profits for the year 2022, twenty percent more than the average for the years 2019-2021, in order to redistribute them to households and businesses facing a huge increase in expenses.
When adopting its plan, the Commission was careful not to use the word ‘tax’ because the imposition of any new tax measure at European level requires the unanimous approval of all 27 EU Member States, which makes the process more complicated than the adoption of the plan by the prescribed majority.
“We recognize that Europe’s energy crisis is weighing heavily on households and businesses and are working to increase energy supplies to Europe,” ExxonMobil spokeswoman Casey Norton said in a statement.
But he added that imposing a tax on “extraordinary profits” would be “counterproductive”. He added that this “would undermine investor confidence, hamper investment and increase dependence on imported energy and petroleum products.” A European Commission spokeswoman told AFP that the commission “has taken note” of the lawsuit but “confirms that the procedure is fully compatible with European Union law”.
Brussels says this tax could bring member states around 25 billion euros.
During a presentation to investors in early December, Exxon-Mobil’s chief financial officer estimated the cost that the group would bear for this stake at “more than two billion dollars”.
Exxon Mobil reported profits of $37.6 billion during the second and third quarters of 2022.
US President Joe Biden had threatened to impose a similar tax on the profits of energy groups due to what he called “war profits”.
