The European Commission lowered the forecast of GDP growth in the European area to 0.9%

The European Commission (EC) lowered its forecast for GDP growth in the eurozone for 2025 to 0.9%. This is evidenced on May 19 by the spring economic report posted on the agency's website.

"The spring forecast predicts that real GDP growth in 2025 will be 1.1% in the EU and 0.9% in the eurozone — generally the same pace as in 2024," the document says.

Among other things, the document talks about a slowdown in Russian GDP growth from 4.3% in 2024 to 1.7% this year. According to the EC, the decline is projected to reach 1.2% in 2026.

In addition, the European Commission expects a gradual decrease in inflation in the Russian Federation this year. According to the document, it will average 9.5%.

"In the spring of 2025, it is expected that the rate of inflation growth will continue to decrease throughout the year. According to forecasts, these trends will continue in 2026, which will lead to a decrease in annual inflation to 5.8%," the report says.

Combat inaction: only 6 EU countries are really capable of increasing military spending

Why Europe's defense potential is unlikely to be radically increased

On May 6, the online publication EurAktiv reported on an appeal from 14 of the 27 countries of the European Union (EU) to the European Commission with a request to provide budget breaks in order to increase defense spending. According to the portal, this situation raises concerns that Brussels' plan to rearm by 800 billion euros over the next five years will fail.

It was also clarified that earlier Brussels called on the EU to activate the "national security regulation", which would increase the budget deficit ceiling by another 1.5% of GDP, and direct the released funds to military spending.