European Union

Nirmala Sitharaman and Paolo Gentiloni discussed issues related to global economy and furthering India-EU collaboration during the G20 India Presidency in 2023. Both sides discussed the need to further strengthen multilateral development banks to enable them to help countries in need.

On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed capping the profits of renewable and nuclear electricity producers, and taxing the windfall earnings of oil and gas companies, CNN reported. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the bloc would conduct a "deep and comprehensive reform" to decouple the cost of gas from the price of electricity.

Over 2022-23, India's growth will average 7 per cent, the strongest among the largest economies, contributing 28 per cent and 22 per cent to Asian and global growth, Morgan Stanley said in a report. India is best positioned within Asia to deliver domestic demand alpha. Its cyclical recovery will be sustained by structural factors.

Jozef Sikela, Czech Minister of Industry and Trade, presided over an exceptional EU Council meeting on energy on Tuesday, with the EU preparing for possible gas supply disruptions over the winter. "Member states agreed to reduce their gas demand by 15 per cent compared to their average consumption in the past five years, between 1 August 2022 and 31 March 2023, with measures of their own choice," Xinhua news agency reported quoting the European Council as saying in a statement.

The proposal adopted on Friday is part of a new set of measures that are intended to improve the implementation and effectiveness of the EU's six earlier packages of sanctions against Russia. In a statement, the Commission said the proposal will be discussed by the member states in the EU Council next week before it is adopted.

Investment bank and financial services major, UBS in its report, said that Germany's economy is already suffering as its manufacturing industry grapples with supply chains disrupted by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. "If its struggling economy is pulled down further by a full-blown energy shortage crisis, it could shake other eurozone countries too, including Italy, France, Poland, and Spain," it read.

The negotiators reached a provisional deal on a new bill aiming to ensure that crypto transfers can always be traced and suspicious transactions blocked. "This new regulation strengthens the European framework to fight money-laundering, reduces the risks of fraud and makes crypto-asset transactions more secure," said Ernest Urtasun, co-rapporteur for the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON).

Germany, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands and Greece are among the first European nations to reopen coal power plants or take measures to support coal power, underlining the importance of energy supply security in the upcoming winter, Xinhua news agency reported. The European Commission noted on Monday that "some of the existing coal capacities might be used longer than initially expected" because of the new energy landscape in Europe.

On the first day of its "Special Meeting" in Brussels, the European Council agreed on the sixth package of sanctions against Russia which will cover crude oil, as well as petroleum products, delivered from Russia to member states. As the European leaders on Monday night decided to stop importing 90 per cent of Russian oil by the end of 2022, Moscow has vowed that it will find other importers soon.

Following the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, the bloc's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell told a press conference on Monday that unanimity had not been reached on the issue. However, the EU will continue to impose sanctions on Russia "to make the price of its invasion of Ukraine unbearable for the Kremlin," he said.