13/04/2022 (Agence Europe) – According to Reuters news agency, a German government spokesperson said on Wednesday 13 April that Germany is rejecting the possibility of an EU embargo on Russian oil for the time being. On the same day, a group of German economic research institutes published a report indicating that an immediate embargo on Russian oil and gas deliveries to the EU would plunge the German economy into a “sharp recession”. According to their estimates, this would lead to a contraction of German GDP of around 2.2% in 2023 and a cumulative loss of GDP in 2022 and 2023 of around €220 billion, equivalent to over 6.5% of the country’s annual economic output. In addition to Germany, other Member States, such as Austria and Hungary, would oppose the inclusion of an oil embargo in the sixth package of sanctions against Russia (see EUROPE 12930/2). See the report (in German): https://aeur.eu/f/193 (DG)