The EC announced the prevention of a recession

The European Union managed to avoid a recession, the European economies contracted less than expected in the fourth quarter of 2022 and grew in the first quarter of 2023, says in the published spring forecast of the European Commission (EC).

“The EU economy is in better shape than we predicted last fall. We have avoided a recession and are set for moderate growth this year and next,” said EU Commissioner for the Economy Paolo Gentiloni. However, he urged “to remain vigilant.”

In this regard, the EC has improved its forecasts for GDP growth for 2023 and 2024. It is expected that this year the EU economy will grow by 1% (instead of the forecast of 0.8% earlier), and next year – by 1.7% (instead of 1 .6%).

Against this background, the head of the EC Ursula von der Leyen statedthat new sanctions against Russia will limit transit through the Russian Federation. According to her, the EU fixes “a discrepancy between the supply of goods from the EU in transit through Russia and their arrival in third countries.” She added that if there is evidence of assistance from third countries to Russia in circumventing sanctions, the EU may prohibit the supply of goods to such countries.

Since the start of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the EU has already adopted 10 packages of sanctions, the last of them on February 24. At the end of March, Ursula von der Leyen announced new restrictions against the Russian Federation. She stated that the 11th package of sanctions will be aimed at combating circumvention of restrictions.

The Russian authorities have repeatedly criticized the imposed sanctions against the Russian Federation. In particular, Russian President Vladimir Putin called restrictions are illegitimate and said that they “cause serious damage to the international legal system.” In the Kremlin declaredthat Western citizens have to pay for sanctions against Russia.