Euro-area inflation climbed to 3.8% in September, up from 3.2% in August, according to Eurostat’s flash estimate. Energy prices rose 18.8% year on year, with Lithuania (6.1%), Bulgaria (5.6%) and Spain (5%) recording the highest rates.
Protests followed across the continent. Unions marched in Brussels and Paris, students camped outside Greece’s parliament, and thousands rallied in Lisbon and Porto over rents. In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a snap election for November 29 after Congress rejected two housing decrees.
Brussels says it is coordinating oil stock releases and urging targeted aid instead of blanket subsidies, after governments spent €17.9 billion cushioning bills this year.
But the EU does not set prices, rents or tuition fees. National governments largely control those levers, and pressure to deliver keeps rising. Can the EU help citizens deal with inflation?