– EU and euro face growing risks including trade wars, energy independence and war with Russia in Middle East

– Middle East war involving Russia may badly impact energy dependent & fragile EU

– Trade and actual wars on European doorstep show the strategic weakness of the EU

– Toxic combination due to growing anti-EU and anti-Euro sentiment in many EU nations

– Investors should diversify to hedge investment, currency and systemic risk

Source: Bloomberg

Recent economic data in the Eurozone has pointed to slowing economies. Retail sales and industrial production is down in many nations (see Bloomberg chart above – source). Germany, the prime driver of growth in the region has seen  exports plunge due to the euro strengthening against the dollar and due to the risk of tariffs and a potential global trade war on the horizon.

Brexit has disappeared from the headlines, debt crises are yesterday’s news and frequent terrorist attacks in different EU nations seem to be taken in their stride. So one might think that things are on the up for the European Union.

This could not be further from the truth. The single-economic area has a major flaw: it is in a permanent state of dependence. Whether on democratically elected national leaders to tow the EU line, governments not to overspend, the rest of the world to tolerate the EU’s current account surpluses, Russia to supply energy and the powder keg that is the Middle East not to explode into a major conflagration and war.

Not to mention many chronically indebted nations with still fragile banks and banking systems. Contrary to perceptions, systemic risk has not gone away.

Many events going on both within and around the EU have exposed these major cracks in what is supposed to be the answer for peace and economic prosperity in Europe. The dangers to the union right now are manifold and look soon to manifest.

Going to war with our energy supplier

In recent days, we have covered the tragic state of affairs that is Syria, Trump tweets and the risks that a ‘Franz Ferdinand’ moment leads to a wider world war involving many nations who appear gung ho to eschew diplomacy and adopt military options.

Many western governments, media and indeed social media such as Facebook are keen to finger blame on Russia for literally everything they don’t like right now – whether a chemical attack on civilians or meddling in national elections on Facebook and Twitter.

One problem the EU in particular has with adopting a very aggressive U.S. military stance with Russia in Syria is that it is the EU’s largest supplier of gas. There is also the risk from the fact that Turkey appears to be breaking away from the EU and this could result in war at the borders of the EU. War, terrorism and new immigrant crisis on a scale of what was seen in recent years would be very destabilising.

 

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