The EU chief has said profits made by energy firms during this period of the energy crisis should be taxed.

Delivering her annual State of the EU address in Strasbourg earlier today, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “In these times it is wrong to receive extraordinary record revenues and profits benefitting from war and on the back of our consumers.

“In these times profits must be shared and channelled to those who need it most.”

She explained that the windfall tax proposal includes the fossil fuel producers who “have to give a crisis contribution”.

The EU chief added: “Millions of Europeans need support to pay their energy bills. Some companies produce electricity at low cost and make great margins.

“We propose a cap on their revenues that will raise more than €140 billion (£121bn) for member states to cushion the blow directly.

“These are all temporary and emergency measures we are working on, including our discussions on gas price caps. We need to keep working on lower gas prices.”