ExxonMobil launches legal challenge to EU’s windfall tax on energy firms

US oil producer contests legal authority for ‘solidarity contribution’ aimed at raising funds to offset soaring energy prices

The US oil giant ExxonMobil has launched a legal challenge against the EU in an attempt to derail the bloc’s windfall tax on the profits of energy producers.

In a high-stakes political battle as countries across Europe and the wider western world struggle with soaring energy costs and sky-high inflation, the American oil firm said it believed the EU had overreached its powers with the windfall tax.