Europe’s cost-of-living protests: Crack down on oil profits to fund public services

350.org today urged European governments to tax fossil fuel profits to fund public services, as mass protests over living costs, housing and education erupt in major cities including Paris, Milan and Brussels.

Protesters across Europe, who cite rising fuel prices among their grievances, have met severe repression as TotalEnergies, Shell and BP are expected to post obscenely huge third-quarter profits next week. Once again, the windfall will go to shareholders, at the expense of people paying at the pump.

350.org is campaigning European leaders to impose permanent taxes on fossil fuel profits. Last week, the European Commission finally agreed to set up a dedicated group to work out how to tax the profits of oil and gas companies. 350.org calls on the European Union to urgently turn this first step into binding measures. Governments should then use the revenue to meet protesters’ demands: more funding for public housing and education, higher wages, and climate action.

In France, where the situation is particularly heated, the government seems to have learned nothing from this summer. Its budget proposal for next year suggests a €54 billion cut in spending and fails to address the ecological and social emergencies. The Green Fund, which finances local climate projects, has been slashed from €2.5 billion in 2024 to around €1 billion. Budget freezes have stalled the renovation of school buildings, including work to adapt them to the climate crisis.

Fanny Petitbon, 350.org France manager said:

“We need zero tolerance for fossil fuel profiteering. Oil companies are making record profits while household and public budgets run dry. Curfews and repression won’t make legitimate grievances disappear. Right now, the French government is more responsive to TotalEnergies’ blackmail than to the demands of hundreds of thousands of people in the streets.

The government must stop telling us the coffers are empty and crack down on oil profits instead. When people can no longer afford their bills, polluters must pay. Especially when these polluters proudly declare that a world in turmoil is ‘good for business,’ as TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné did this month. 

The money for more classrooms and teachers exists — it’s sitting with oil executives and shareholders. Our leaders must listen to this unprecedented alliance of students, workers and families, tax these excess profits and invest public money in a better future.”

Media Contact: 

Fanny Petitbon, 350.org France manager, [email protected]

Hala Rachedi, 350.org France communications officer, [email protected]