For America’s European allies, the war in Iran started off as a human emergency and a geopolitical test for governments understandably reluctant to get dragged into a mess they never asked for. It’s now turning into an energy shock, one with echoes of the 2022 Ukraine war, and the fallout from that is impossible to avoid.

While few can really predict the conflict’s duration and intensity — not least President Donald Trump — the European Union’s economic growth is pointing downward, inflation upward and competition for energy is intensifying. The EU’s promise of a competitiveness boost is sounding hollow.

© Bloomberg