The protests currently taking place across Europe are driven by high energy costs.

Chris Cilia

Verdict Mostly true

High energy costs are a documented driver of the protests. Italy's 30 October general strike listed fuel prices and electricity and gas bills among its demands, and fuel prices set off demonstrations in Italy and France. But energy is not the only cause. The same movements also protest over wages, pensions, rents and housing, and public services, and in Spain and Portugal housing and wages lead.How we reached this verdict ↓

Analysis and evaluation

Energy prices are one of the main grievances behind the protests that have spread across Europe since October, and in Italy and France they are among the clearest triggers. They are not the only one. The same strikes and marches also demand higher wages and pensions, cheaper housing and better public services, and in some countries those come first.

Where energy costs are a stated driver

Italy gives the clearest evidence. In its call for the general strike of 30 October 2026, the union USB listed rising fuel prices and electricity and gas bills among its grievances. A commentary from Bocconi University's Institute for European Policymaking, published on 23 October, identifies fuel prices as a trigger for demonstrations in Italy and France. Le Monde's report on the spread of unrest, on 20 October, names soaring energy prices as one of its two main causes.

The other reasons protesters give

The USB statement that named energy bills also demanded higher wages and pensions, lower rents and mortgage costs, stronger public services and less military spending. Elsewhere, energy is less prominent.

Country	Grievances named by organisers or in reporting
Italy	Fuel prices, electricity and gas bills, wages, pensions, rents and mortgages, public services, military spending
France	Fuel prices, schools, public services, cost of living
Spain	Housing affordability, rents, evictions
Portugal	Wages, pensions, public services, employment rights, cost of living

Sources: USB strike call (9 October 2026); CGTP-IN national council conclusions; Bocconi Institute for European Policymaking (23 October 2026); CNA (30 October 2026); Euronews (19 October 2026).

Energy bills squeeze household budgets, but so do rent, food and wages that fail to keep up with prices. Reporting on the protests describes all of these together.

Evaluation

High energy costs are a real and documented driver of the protests, which is why the claim is rated Mostly true. It falls short of True because it gives energy as the cause, when the organisers themselves list other reasons alongside it.

Editorial note

How we assessed this claim

We read "the protests across Europe" as the wave of demonstrations and strikes in October and early November 2026, and compared the claim with what organisers said they were protesting about and with contemporary reporting.

Mostly true, because energy costs are a stated grievance behind the largest of these protests. The claim falls short in presenting energy as the cause when organisers list other reasons alongside it: wages, pensions, housing costs and public services.

Limitations

Organisers' statements show what they protested about, not how much each issue weighed with the people who took part.
No source ranks the causes across Europe as a whole, and the mix differs from country to country.