BERLIN, September 8. /TASS/: The European Union may face recession in the wake of record-high gas prices, as the coming winter is likely to be "one of the worst in history," EU Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni said in an interview with Der Spiegel on Thursday.
"No one can rule that out. The current inflation will throw our economy into turmoil, and the coming winter could be one of the worst in history. We are experiencing unprecedented uncertainty. But the figures for the EU economy as a whole are still positive, and the situation on the labor market is good," he said.
Gentiloni did not rule out that some EU counties would need to ration gas consumption.
"It depends on what decisions Russian President Vladimir Putin makes and how we ourselves behave. It is already necessary to save energy, although we see good progress in how gas storage facilities are being filled and energy is saved," the politician said adding that the situation is very different in EU countries.
The EU governments are already taking "immediate measures". By late August, the money equal to nearly 1% of the EU’s GDP had been earmarked to tackle the energy crisis, and by the end of the year the funding might rise to achieve 2% of GDP.
