European Union finance ministers today faced up to the economic fallout from an imminent war in Iraq but looked unlikely to finalise any detailed plan this week to cope with any consequences.
As ministers gathered on the eve of a two-day EU summit, Danish Finance Minister Mr Thor Pedersen said the global economy would benefit from a quick end to conflict, while his Finnish counterpart warned that even a short war might do some damage to economic activity.
"I am not convinced that even if war will be over quickly, the security situation will be cleared, and that might do some harm to the economy just like it happened after September 11th," Mr Sauli Niinisto, outgoing finance minister following weekend elections in Finland, told reporters.
The European Commission said this week that in a worst case scenario a protracted conflict could tip Europe into recession, but a senior EU official told Reuters ministers will wait until the consequences of conflict start to become clearer.
Still, they might pledge that the bloc will coordinate its response on the economic front - something the EU failed spectacularly to do in efforts to prevent war itself.
"The ministers will be on high alert, but it won't be evident right from the beginning of war what the economic consequences will be. They are looking at different scenarios, but it won't be clear which one it'll be," the official said.
Economic reforms, which were supposed to be the official focus of the March 20th-21st EU summit, remain vital even though war is dominating headlines, EU finance ministers' chairman said.