BRUSSELS—The European Union is seeing its economic emergence from the unprecedented COVID-19 slowdown hampered by coronavirus-induced staff shortages, supply bottlenecks, runaway energy prices, and subsequent inflation surges. In its winter 2022 forecast, the European Commission said Thursday that even though the economy has rebounded from stunning losses at the height of the pandemic crisis, key challenges remain on the path to a sense of normalcy. “As the pandemic is still ongoing, our immediate challenge is to keep the recovery well on track,” EU Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said. After the 27-nation bloc enjoyed a huge economic turnaround for much of last year, growth is expected to have slowed again to 0.4 percent in the last quarter of 2021, compared with 2.2 percent in the previous quarter. “ The significant rise in inflation and energy prices, along with supply chain and labor market bottlenecks, are holding back growth,” Dombrovskis said. …