The European Commission has released its Winter 2022 Economic Forecast for this year and the next, predicting a slower pace of growth when compared to 2021 due to high energy costs, supply chain issues, and the disruptions from COVID-19. Last year, the European Union’s (EU) economy expanded by 5.3 percent. For 2022, the commission expects growth to fall to around 4 percent, declining further to 2.8 percent in 2023, according to a Feb. 10 Economic Forecast press release. The EU reached its pre-pandemic GDP level in the third quarter of 2021. By the end of 2022, all member states are expected to have passed this milestone. In spring last year, the EU saw a rebound in economic activity that continued strongly for the first three quarters. In the last quarter, growth slowed to 0.4 percent. Though such a slowdown was expected, it was “sharper than projected” as challenges to growth …