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European UnionExxonMobil wants to block taxation of energy giants’ “surplus profits”
The American group has seized European justice, arguing that the measure will “discourage investment”.
The American group ExxonMobil seized on Wednesday the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) against the tax on the “superprofits” of the energy giants decided by Brussels, which could, according to the company, “discourage investments”. Officially dubbed the “temporary solidarity contribution”, this charge is supposed to be paid by producers and distributors of oil, gas and coal who have made huge profits thanks to the surge in prices following the war in Ukraine. It plans to deduct 33% of taxable profits for 2022, which are more than 20% higher than the average for the years 2019-2021 in order to redistribute them to households and businesses faced with the explosion of bills.
Disguised tax
When it was adopted at the end of September, the Commission took care not to use the word ‘tax’, because any new tax provision on a European scale would have required the unanimity of the Twenty-Seven, a more complicated and risky procedure than adoption by qualified majority.
The idea was in particular to avoid procedures like the one initiated on Wednesday before the CJEU in Luxembourg by the German and Dutch subsidiaries of ExxonMobil. The CJEU can be seized by a company when it considers that an EU institution has infringed its rights.
“War Profits”
“We recognize that Europe’s energy crisis is taking a heavy toll on families and businesses, and we are working to increase Europe’s energy supply,” company spokesman Casey Norton said in a statement. a message sent to AFP. But taxing “superprofits” is “counterproductive,” he argues. It “will undermine investor confidence, discourage investment and increase dependence on imported energy and petroleum products,” the spokesperson added.
A contribution of 2 billion
ExxonMobil earned $37.6 billion in the second and third quarters. US President Joe Biden denounced these “war profits” at the end of October, deploring that the profits generated by hydrocarbon companies are returned to shareholders while prices at the pump for motorists remain high.
During a presentation to investors in early December, the financial director of ExxonMobil had estimated that the European tax would cost the group “more than 2 billion dollars”. She also clarified that the final amount would depend on how Member States integrate this measure into their 2023 budget.
(AFP)