Milan, 28 August (LaPresse) – “The history of taxes on windfall profits is a history of failures: they distort investment and risk accelerating the deindustrialisation of Europe.” So said the Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Secretary of Forza Italia, Antonio Tajani, in an interview with *Quotidiano Nazionale*. “I am convinced that, just like banks and insurance companies, oil firms must also make a contribution in times of difficulty. But the government’s approach is the right one: dialogue and an agreement with the companies have made it possible to cover expenses until 5 September. An agreement is quite different from a tax on windfall profits,” he added. On the fact that the proposal is backed by the PD’s secretary, Elly Schlein, but that the Lega is also effectively on the same line, Tajani emphasised: “It is a mistake; it frightens the markets and leads to a loss of competitiveness. The Left’s proposals for relentless action seem to me to be inspired more by class hatred and social warfare than by sound economic policy. We liberals cannot believe that every problem can be solved with a tax, following Sánchez’s socialist model. And it is precisely our wise economic policy that has led the Financial Times to recognise Italy as the flagship of the European economy. And the FT was paraded by the Left against us.” According to the Foreign Minister, “the policy of dialogue is a winning one; that of the oppressive state is a losing one: the state cannot be the Sheriff of Nottingham.” “In the three-year period 2026–2028,” he notes, “an additional 10.2 billion will flow into the public coffers from the banks; a further two billion from the insurance sector. In the first six months of 2026, the banks have already paid 1.2 billion more in taxes compared with the same period in 2025. This figure exceeds the amount raised from the tax on windfall profits.”
Fuel windfall profits: Tajani says, “The state cannot act like the Sheriff of Nottingham”
Milan, 28 August (LaPresse) – “The history of taxes on windfall profits is a history of failures: they distort investment and risk accelerating the deindustrialisation of Europe.” So said the Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Secretary of Forza Italia, Antonio Tajani, in an interview with *Quotidiano Nazionale*. “I am convinced that, just like banks and insurance companies, oil firms must also make a contribution in times of difficulty. But the government’s approach is the right one: dialogue and an agreement with the companies have made it possible to cover expenses until 5 September. An agreement is quite different from a tax on windfall profits,” he added. On the fact that the proposal is backed by the PD’s secretary, Elly Schlein, but that the Lega is also effectively on the same line, Tajani emphasised: “It is a mistake; it frightens the markets and leads to a loss of competitiveness. The Left’s proposals for relentless action seem to me to be inspired more by class hatred and social warfare than by sound economic policy. We liberals cannot believe that every problem can be solved with a tax, following Sánchez’s socialist model. And it is precisely our wise economic policy that has led the Financial Times to recognise Italy as the flagship of the European economy. And the FT was paraded by the Left against us.” According to the Foreign Minister, “the policy of dialogue is a winning one; that of the oppressive state is a losing one: the state cannot be the Sheriff of Nottingham.” “In the three-year period 2026–2028,” he notes, “an additional 10.2 billion will flow into the public coffers from the banks; a further two billion from the insurance sector. In the first six months of 2026, the banks have already paid 1.2 billion more in taxes compared with the same period in 2025. This figure exceeds the amount raised from the tax on windfall profits.”