EU Seeks Energy Tax Cuts as War Adds $26 Billion to Fuel Imports

The European Union’s executive arm is set to propose lowering energy taxes and power grid charges, after the Iran war added urgency to a plan to help the region’s struggling industries.

Since the start of the conflict, the bloc’s bill for fossil fuel imports has increased by over €22 billion ($25.7 billion), European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Monday at a press conference in Brussels. Energy prices had already shot to the top of the EU’s political agenda on fears over the region’s declining competitiveness compared with China and the US.

On April 22, the commission is due ...