Welt says there is "only one relevant trigger"; Efimerida ton Syntakton says it is "the profiteering party"
Six reports from Germany, Greece and Austria describe the same record at the pump and name four different causes for it. Two carry a number. None says what its number counts.
The record is agreed. taz reports an all-time high at German pumps. Welt reports new record levels almost daily, "nicht nur in Deutschland".
The cause is not.
| Outlet | Blames | Whose voice |
|---|---|---|
| Der Standard (AT) | EU gas stores being refilled fast | stated flat; the warning is the ECB's Schnabel |
| Welt (DE) | the oil price, the tax level, and "nur einen relevanten Auslöser" | its own |
| taz (DE) | the oil price; the Bundeskartellamt is "already" examining the market | its own |
| Der Freitag (DE) | the Houthi advance on Bab al-Mandab and Hormuz | its own |
| Efimerida ton Syntakton (GR) | refinery windfalls — "το πάρτι της αισχροκέρδειας" | Famellos, in a question to the prime minister |
One charge is attributed. Four reports state their cause flat.
Two numbers between six reports. Welt puts 2.60 euros in its headline. Der Freitag puts oil at 100 dollars. The other four describe records, escalation and energy "ασφυξία" with no figure at all.
What is not settled. Welt says one trigger explains the escalation, and the text we hold does not name it. Only Der Freitag gives the 100-dollar oil price and the Houthi advance; the two German reports on pump prices name neither. Whether refiners are taking excess margin is an opposition charge in one report and unmentioned in five. The German competition regulator is examining the market; no report we hold carries a finding from it. And no report says what its price counts — which fuel, which week, with tax or without.
What this is about. Fuel at European pumps is at a record, and the reports below give four different reasons for it.
How it got here. Europe's energy market has been rebuilt twice in four years. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 cut the pipeline gas the EU had bought for decades; the Union answered with a storage regulation obliging member states to fill gas stores before each winter, which turns every summer into a buying season — the demand pressure Der Standard describes. Oil is priced globally, so a threat to shipping anywhere moves the price everywhere. Two chokepoints carry much of it: the Strait of Hormuz, the only sea exit from the Persian Gulf, and Bab al-Mandab, the strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa through which Red Sea and Suez traffic passes. Yemen's Houthi movement has held the capital Sanaa since 2014, is aligned with Iran, and began striking Red Sea shipping after the Gaza war that followed the attacks of 7 October 2023. Der Freitag reports it has now taken coastal areas commanding both passages, with oil at 100 dollars.
Who is in it. The European Commission writes the storage rules. The European Central Bank, whose Executive Board includes Isabel Schnabel, watches energy prices because they feed the inflation it is mandated to hold near 2 percent. Germany sets a large part of its own pump price: energy duty, VAT and a national carbon price on transport fuel introduced in 2021. Its competition regulator, the Bundeskartellamt, polices that market for abuse. Greece's refiners buy crude and sell refined diesel — the margin between the two is what the opposition's Socratis Famellos, of Syriza, put to the prime minister.
What is at stake. Which cause is right decides who can act: a war premium is nobody's to fix, a tax level is Berlin's, a margin is a regulator's.
Where it stands. The record is agreed. The regulator is looking; no finding has been published.
What is being argued about
- Whether refiners, taxes, the oil price, EU gas storage or the Red Sea shipping lanes are driving the rise
- Welt's claim that a single unnamed trigger explains the escalation
- The Greek opposition's charge that the government is backing refinery windfalls
- What the two published figures — 2.60 euros and 100 dollars — actually count
Claims and verdicts
Ölpreis steigt: Allzeithoch an der Tanke
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Read it at taz →
What we have measured
Actor named names both coalition parties as the sides of the conflict ×1Actor named Makes the Constitutional Court the actor that overturned the Supreme Court's argument. ×1With no actor named critics The pressure comes from 'the internet', with no critic named. ×1Asserted in the outlet's voice a motive assigned to an entire electorate, no source and no evidence ×1
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Welt
Welt
🇩🇪DE ·
newspaper · independent
Wird die Straße von Hormus geöffnet? Ein Vertrag aus dem Jahr 1936 könnte ein Vorbild sein
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Read it at Der Freitag →
What we have measured
Accusation with no accuser an antisemitism charge is said to weigh on a coalition; who makes it is not named ×1Accusation without an accuser an antisemitism charge carried as a weight on the coalition, nobody named as making it ×1Actor named Names police and an investor as acting. ×1Actor named It names both actors, the investor and the police, in the active voice. It also states flatly that the rent was always paid. ×1
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t
taz
Ölpreis steigt: Allzeithoch an der Tanke
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Read it at taz →
What we have measured
Actor named names both coalition parties as the sides of the conflict ×1Actor named Makes the Constitutional Court the actor that overturned the Supreme Court's argument. ×1With no actor named critics The pressure comes from 'the internet', with no critic named. ×1Asserted in the outlet's voice a motive assigned to an entire electorate, no source and no evidence ×1
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Welt
Welt
🇩🇪DE ·
newspaper · independent
Efimerida ton Syntakton
Efimerida ton Syntakton
🇬🇷GR ·
newspaper · independent
Efimerida ton Syntakton
Efimerida ton Syntakton
🇬🇷GR ·
newspaper · independent
Welt
Welt
🇩🇪DE ·
newspaper · independent
Energiepreisanstieg "ziemlich besorgniserregend": EZB-Direktorin Schnabel warnt
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Read it at Der Standard →
What we have measured
Actor named NATO is named as acting; it 'foiled' the manoeuvre ×1Actor named dead uncounted The US is named as the attacker and stated flat, but the dead schoolchildren are neither counted nor named ×1Actors left unnamed the three requesting states are counted, never named ×1Aim attributed and quoted the stated aim is in quotation marks and marked as the service's account ×1
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D
Der Freitag
Wird die Straße von Hormus geöffnet? Ein Vertrag aus dem Jahr 1936 könnte ein Vorbild sein
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Read it at Der Freitag →
What we have measured
Accusation with no accuser an antisemitism charge is said to weigh on a coalition; who makes it is not named ×1Accusation without an accuser an antisemitism charge carried as a weight on the coalition, nobody named as making it ×1Actor named Names police and an investor as acting. ×1Actor named It names both actors, the investor and the police, in the active voice. It also states flatly that the rent was always paid. ×1
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Who wrote it
Welt
Efimerida ton Syntakton
Coverage, outlet by outlet
Welt
Welt
🇩🇪DE ·
newspaper · independent
Ölpreis steigt: Allzeithoch an der Tanke
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Read it at taz →
What we have measured
Actor named names both coalition parties as the sides of the conflict ×1Actor named Makes the Constitutional Court the actor that overturned the Supreme Court's argument. ×1With no actor named critics The pressure comes from 'the internet', with no critic named. ×1Asserted in the outlet's voice a motive assigned to an entire electorate, no source and no evidence ×1
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—
Efimerida ton Syntakton
Efimerida ton Syntakton
🇬🇷GR ·
newspaper · independent
Wird die Straße von Hormus geöffnet? Ein Vertrag aus dem Jahr 1936 könnte ein Vorbild sein
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at Der Freitag →
What we have measured
Accusation with no accuser an antisemitism charge is said to weigh on a coalition; who makes it is not named ×1Accusation without an accuser an antisemitism charge carried as a weight on the coalition, nobody named as making it ×1Actor named Names police and an investor as acting. ×1Actor named It names both actors, the investor and the police, in the active voice. It also states flatly that the rent was always paid. ×1
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—
Energiepreisanstieg "ziemlich besorgniserregend": EZB-Direktorin Schnabel warnt
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Read it at Der Standard →
What we have measured
Actor named NATO is named as acting; it 'foiled' the manoeuvre ×1Actor named dead uncounted The US is named as the attacker and stated flat, but the dead schoolchildren are neither counted nor named ×1Actors left unnamed the three requesting states are counted, never named ×1Aim attributed and quoted the stated aim is in quotation marks and marked as the service's account ×1
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— independent
Efimerida ton Syntakton
Efimerida ton Syntakton
🇬🇷GR ·
newspaper · independent
Deník N
Deník N
🇨🇿CZ ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Actor named The headline names speculators as the actors who evicted a grandmother, stated flat. ×1Asserted, and a government judged A wave of Russian state terrorism is stated as fact and Germany is rated on its response; the piece is labelled a comment ×1Asserted, not attributed Washington's refusal and its reasoning stated flat, with no source ×1Assessment stated flat Says in its own voice, with no source, that Russian air defence worked well. ×1
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El Mundo
El Mundo
🇪🇸ES ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Actor named The dispute is between named Spanish officials over who was warned. There is no figure of Moroccan personnel. ×1Actor named The dispute is between named officials, and the report carries no figure. ×1Asserted, not attributed defiance of a named president is stated flat as what the meeting was ×1Asserted not attributed States Moscow's own reason, retaliation, as fact ×1
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Brussels Signal
Brussels Signal
🇧🇪BE ·
digital · independent
What we have measured
Asserted vs attributed cause and effect on services asserted in the reporter's voice, no figure attached ×1Asserted vs attributed States record diesel prices flat, with no source; another report says there is no shortage ×1Asserted vs attributed The figure of 72 is stated flat, with no named source or document. The report's own inference is 'significant infiltration'. ×1Asserted vs attributed record diesel prices stated flat, with no figure and no source ×1
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Dagens Nyheter
Dagens Nyheter
🇸🇪SE ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Accused label flat accused is labelled far-right without attribution, and not named ×1Affected counted Only report to count the residents affected ×1Asserted or attributed the majority stated flat, with nobody credited for the count ×1Asserted or attributed the demand is written as the report's own flat sentence before it is attributed to anyone ×1
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Observador
Observador
🇵🇹PT ·
digital · independent
What we have measured
Accusation attributed The fuel retailers' charge is attributed, 'accuses'. No government response is carried. ×1Affected person unnamed the woman is not named, and no cause of the eviction is given ×1Analyst verdict as headline one commentator's judgement on European mood is the headline ×1Asserted or attributed the charge against two foreign states is carried as the prime minister's view, not the report's ×1
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Telex
Telex
🇭🇺HU ·
digital · independent
What we have measured
Actor framed as giving The headline makes the government the actor, and what it does is support drivers. ×1Actor named NATO is named as acting; it 'chased them off' ×1Adopted term Uses the government's own phrase 'targeted support' without quotation marks ×1Asserted vs attributed 'under cover of night' attributed to Mária Schmidt, with the ministry's 8pm set beside it ×1
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Frankfurter Allgemeine
Frankfurter Allgemeine
🇩🇪DE ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Actor label The Houthis are called a militia and are cast only as the threat ships need protecting from. ×1With no actor named critics 'After criticism', with no one named as the critic. ×1Anyone hurt counted gives an injury figure, attributed to the ministry, but does not say who was hurt or by whom ×1Asserted flat the report judges the offer vague in its own voice, unattributed ×1
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Rzeczpospolita
Rzeczpospolita
🇵🇱PL ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Accountability The only report to say prosecutors are investigating ×1Asserted not attributed Hungary's need for more time is stated as fact, not as the government's claim ×1Claim asserted flat says EU law has never known such an offer, with no lawyer, official or text cited ×1Correction carried the correction is in the lede, attributed to Lithuania ×1
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Le Figaro
Le Figaro
🇫🇷FR ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Asserted, not attributed the capture of the strait and a "lightning offensive" are stated flat, with no source and no date ×1Asserted vs attributed The mayor's account and his opponents' charge are both attributed. ×1Asserted vs attributed The capture of the strait is stated flat, as settled background to a different story, with no source and no date for the claim. ×1Attacker identified by nationality in the headline ×1
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Politico Europe
Politico Europe
🇧🇪BE ·
digital · independent
What we have measured
Actor named vaguely The opponents are 'other capitals', with no country named ×1With no actor named accusation The coup accusation is in the passive; the accuser is not named ×1Asserted vs attributed The contradiction is stated as fact by the report, sourced only to unspecified official notes ×1Asserted vs attributed the stall stated flat in the headline, with Athens named as the actor that rejected ×1
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HotNews.ro
HotNews.ro
🇷🇴RO ·
digital · independent
What we have measured
Accusation unanswered AUR's claim of a plan agreed between the president and PSD runs in the headline and lede. No reply from the president is carried. ×1Actor named Names the blocs that refuse any exemption ×1Anonymous sourcing The jamming device found in his car rests on unnamed judicial sources, relayed through a news agency. ×1Asserted not attributed the outcome is declared settled before voting opens ×1
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NOS
NOS
🇳🇱NL ·
public broadcaster · public-service
What we have measured
Actor label The backers are labelled politically; the opponents, all other major parties, get no label ×1Actor named Names the Supreme Court as the court that withdrew the warrant. ×1Actor named and attributed Construction workers are named as having damaged a cable by accident, and the report attributes this to the aviation regulator. ×1Actor named, in passive Israeli airstrikes are named as what destroyed the building, but the sentence puts the building first ×1
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Svenska Dagbladet
Svenska Dagbladet
🇸🇪SE ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Attributed context The Iran link is hedged and credited to another newspaper ×1Hedged context Base's use for strikes on Iran is hedged and attributed to another paper ×1Hedged or flat a directional claim about the race stated flat, with no poll figure behind it ×1Loss stated flat, size not given a large loss asserted with no figure, and a coalition demand named in the same line ×1
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Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza
🇵🇱PL ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Actor named Russia is named as acting against the bridge, in active voice ×1Asserted cause Voters' reason for backing the AfD is stated flat as a fact about the mainstream parties. ×1Asserted, not attributed the three-year gain is stated as what the deal would have secured, with no source ×1Asserted versus attributed the link between the pardons and the US talks is stated flat in the headline ×1
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ABC
ABC
🇪🇸ES ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Figure chosen 80,000, stated flat and unsourced; every other report we hold says about 70,000 ×1Figure chosen 80,000 crossed, stated flat, no source for the number ×1How hard the claim is stated Calls it an invasion in the outlet's own voice, unattributed, inside a sentence about the judge. ×1Which figure is used same two days, no figure at all: thousands ×1
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Die Presse
Die Presse
🇦🇹AT ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Who is named as acting Calls the party right and its people the far right in the outlet's own voice; three reports use only its name. ×1
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Il Giornale
Il Giornale
🇮🇹IT ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
Euractiv
Euractiv
🇧🇪BE ·
digital · independent
What we have measured
Measure chosen the only report we hold that breaks the result down by voters' age ×1Measure chosen the only report we hold that publishes how the age groups split ×1Which figure is used about 80,000 stated flat and unsourced — an order of magnitude above every other figure we hold ×1Which figure is used Puts 80,000 across the border in two days with no source for the figure and nobody attributed for it. ×1
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Le Monde
Le Monde
🇫🇷FR ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Anyone hurt named or counted the only death toll we hold; a round number, hedged, nobody named ×1Anyone hurt named or counted the only report we hold that gives a death toll; it counts, does not name ×1Who says the label flat in the headline, no source, no hedge ×1
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El País
El País
🇪🇸ES ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Figure chosen more than 70,000 crossed, the higher figure not mentioned ×1Word for the event invasion, in quote marks and put in a party leader's mouth ×1Word for the event, attributed same word, but in quotation marks and inside a politician's accusation ×1
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la Repubblica
la Repubblica
🇮🇹IT ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
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Süddeutsche Zeitung
Süddeutsche Zeitung
🇩🇪DE ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Hedged or stated states flat that police do not know whether the person seen is the man they want ×1Suspect identified how age and home town only, and the sabotage is what police attribute, not what the report asserts ×1
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