Lisbon, May 12, 2026 (Lusa) - The European climate commissioner, who is currently in Lisbon, says he understands the discomfort with energy companies' "outrageous profits" but says national governments should decide on windfall taxes rather than Brussels.
Wopke Hoekstra, the European commissioner for climate, carbon neutrality and clean growth, is in Lisbon on Tuesday for the final day of a two-day visit to Portugal.
He is meeting government and industry representatives to discuss the clean energy transition and European Union (EU) competitiveness.
Speaking at a press conference alongside Portugal’s environment minister, Maria da Graça Carvalho, Hoekstra said Brussels wants national governments to decide on taxing windfall profits rather than imposing a European model.
He added that such a model would face legal and coordination difficulties.
"Of course, we understand that companies want to make profits, but they are making outrageous profits out of a crisis… I understand why that is uncomfortable from a public perspective," the commissioner said.
Hoekstra spoke about an April letter sent by five European governments – Portugal, Germany, Spain, Italy and Austria – to the European Commission.
They advocated for a European windfall tax similar to measures used during the 2022 energy crisis.
“One of the lessons of 2022 is that this is easiest done at a national level, because you run into all sorts of legal and coordination questions if you try to do that at a European level,” he said.
Wopke Hoekstra said the European Commission continues "to study and analyse" the matter, raised in the 3 April letter, but reiterated that national governments must make the decision.
"We want to make it possible for those member states that want to embark on that route," he added.
Hoekstra met Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento and representatives from companies investing in the energy transition on Monday.
At Tuesday's press conference, the commissioner said the current crisis, following the 1979 oil crisis and 2022 gas crisis, shows Europe depends on others for energy and must gain production autonomy.
“We are hugely vulnerable in terms of energy and energy is not just a market, it is a matter of national and European security, and the current crisis makes it abundantly clear to us,” he said.
"We are once again experiencing how we are at the mercy of others and what others are doing, and the only way to get rid of this is to make sure we generate more of the energy on our own continent," he added.
He said producing more energy in the internal market “means more solar, more wind, more geothermal, more heat pumps, more interconnectors, more green investments and, for those who like it, more nuclear investments.”
PCT/LYT // ADB.
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