The new sanctions against Russia in the energy sector are on the table of Ecofin today. Top European officials confirm that the EU is debating sanctions on coal and oil from Russia, stressing that unanimity is needed and that discussions are continuing.
“We are ready to step up sanctions against Russia. “Coal and oil are a possibility we will discuss,” said the French finance minister. Bruno Lemercoming today to the Ecofin Council meeting in Luxembourg.
Bruno Lemerre expressed confidence that all 27 member states are determined to strengthen sanctions, noting that the “key” to the effectiveness of sanctions is the unity of the “27”.
He also recalled that the French president Emanuel Macron clarified that it is open to extending sanctions on coal and oil.
“We will see what the position of all the member states is, but I think it is we are likely to have a unit of 27 for the new sanctionsStressed the French Minister of Finance. He added that the talks would take place in the next few hours, adding that the French presidency’s position was clear: “We are ready to step up sanctions.”
The European Union (EU) is likely to adopt a new round of sanctions against Russia tomorrow, Wednesday, following allegations that Russian forces killed civilians in northern Ukraine, said French Foreign Minister Clement Bonn.
“The new sanctions will probably be adopted tomorrow,” he told RFI, adding that the EU should also act immediately on gas imports and coal from Russia.
Russia denies allegations that its forces killed civilians in Ukraine, including Bukhara.
The Russian envoy to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, said Russia would present “empirical evidence” today to the UN Security Council that its forces had not killed civilians in Ukraine and were not involved in the Bukhara events.
Eurogroup: Prepare the ground
Late last night, after the end of his meeting Eurogroup“We are ready to step up sanctions against Moscow and to show support for the people of Ukraine,” President Pascal Donahue told a news conference.
The Eurogroup met in the shadow of the “atrocities committed by the Russian army against civilians in Ukraine,” Donahue said, adding that Ecofin would discuss “further action” by the 27 countries.
The Eurogroup discussed the effects of the war on the eurozone economy, as well as the uncertainty it creates for governments and businesses, the rise in energy and food prices, and the disruption of supply chains. Member States must continue to receive emergency measures to mitigate the effectsespecially to the most vulnerable, said P. Donahiu.
In terms of growth in 2022estimated that it will continue to have a positive sign, because the eurozone entered this economic crisis with a strong recovery.
However, he stressed that the consequences of the war will burden the cost of living of citizens, in the short and long term. He also said that neither the Commission nor the European Central Bank had found any indication that price increases would fuel an inflation spiral in the eurozone, but that it was being closely monitored.
For his part, Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni stressed that growth in the EU in 2022 would be below the 4% forecast by the Commission in early February, but insisted that the EU would not enter an economic downturn this year.
The commission will release its new forecast for the European economy on May 16, although, as P. Gentiloni explained, “it is difficult to make estimates in the medium term”, due to many factors that remain unclear. For example, he said the impact on the economy in the event of an embargo on Russian energy imports would also depend on the duration of the war, consumer and investor confidence, and whether the crisis would become global.
Asked if the Eurogroup discussed the Russian president’s proposal to be paid in rubles for gasthe Commissioner of Economy replied: “Most of the contracts that have been signed are either in euros or in dollars and we respect the contracts”.
“The war in Ukraine is affecting the European economy far more than the global one,” said the head of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Klaus Regling.
As he said, financial markets and analysts are taking into account the uncertainty for the future, revising downward growth expectations and upward inflation following rising energy and food prices. The current crisis is as big as the oil crisis of the early 1970s, international analysts say, Klaus Regling said.
At the same time, he stressed that confidence indicators are falling and analysts expect that the second quarter of 2022 will have a negative sign of growth.
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