Now Germany apparently wants to intervene: Minister of Finance Christian Lindner (FDP) has in any case brought up a “tank discount”, in which the state reimburses motorists for part of the fuel bill.

In many other countries there is also a discussion about whether and how politicians should react to the high fuel prices.

The range of reactions so far has ranged from doing nothing to subsidizing fuel and rationing – i.e. the limited allocation of petrol quantities.

The example of Hungary is particularly drastic, says Manuel Frondel, energy expert from the RWI research institute.

There has been a petrol price cap there for some time, at the equivalent of around 1.10 euros per liter.

The result: massive fuel tourism from neighboring countries such as Austria and Slovakia and fuel shortages at the gas stations.

"Then there was rationing," says Frondel.

Everyone is only allowed to fill up with 25 liters at the gas station: "Result: Drivers drive to several gas stations in a row and therefore large queues form at the gas stations."

Is it worth refueling in Austria or Poland?

In Germany, the price of fuel has meanwhile continued to rise, albeit not quite as extreme as before.

On Tuesday, diesel costs a nationwide average of 2.31 euros per liter, Super E10 around 2.20 euros.

According to the Fuels and Energy Industry Association, the share of taxes and duties is 46 percent for Super E10 and 36.3 percent for diesel.

That's not a little;

but the proportion used to be 60 percent.

Although the absolute amount of taxes and duties has risen with the rising oil price, their share of the total price has fallen.

There is “tank tourism” from Germany, for example across the border to Austria and Poland.

In Austria, a liter of diesel cost 2.03 euros on Monday and a liter of petrol 1.93 euros;

so less than in Germany.

The state share is 36 percent for diesel and 42 percent for petrol.

In July there will also be a CO2 price: This will make diesel around nine cents more expensive and a liter of petrol around eight cents more expensive.

In addition to the reduction in VAT, a price cap and an adjustment to the commuter allowance are also being discussed.

There is also a demand from companies to suspend the planned CO2 pricing.

Poland's government put a new version of its "anti-inflation shield" into effect at the beginning of February;

this should apply until the end of July and lowers important VAT rates: for fuel from 23 to eight percent.

According to the government, this is the lowest level permitted under EU regulations.

Nevertheless, the prices at the gas stations are about a third above the average of the previous year.

On Monday, Daniel Obajtek, head of the largest mineral oil company Orlen, wrote on Twitter that his company was reducing the price of petrol and diesel oil by around three percent "so that Polish drivers can fill up with the cheapest fuel in Europe".

A liter of 98 octane currently costs the equivalent of 1.59 euros in Poland, and a liter of diesel costs 1.68 euros.

In France, on April 1, a few days before the presidential election, a fuel price brake will come into effect.

Technically, it should work in a similar way to what Lindner has in mind for Germany: for four months, the state subsidizes every tank filling with 15 cents per liter.

According to the government, this will cost him around 2 billion euros.

"An emergency measure," said Environment Minister Barbara Pompili, which "is not permanent" but will be replaced by a more permanent measure for frequent drivers in the summer.

The details are not yet clear, according to Pompili an increase in the commuter allowance is conceivable.

This has recently been raised.

In addition, in view of the rise in fuel prices, the French government transferred 100 euros to all French people who earn less than 2,000 euros a month net in December.

Netherlands particularly expensive

In the Netherlands, the price recommendation ("prijsadvies") rose above 2.50 per liter Euro95 for the first time last week.

This is the price that is often quoted in the media, which a consumer association called UnitedConsumers calculates as an average of the information provided by the five largest suppliers BP, Esso, Shell, Texaco and Total and which can occur at expensive motorway service stations.

Elsewhere, a liter typically costs around 20 cents less.

As of Monday, the recommended price was 2.46 euros.