"These measures are of course not new, they have been in place for a while. They have been conceived in a very particular way when it comes to being laser-targeted with a minimal impact on the economy of the EU member states," Kocijancic said at a daily EC briefing.
"In terms of concrete impact… this has been minimal and mitigated with other measures," she added without providing a specific figure.
The Austrian Institute of Economic Research estimates the EU economy lost roughly $18.6 billion and 397,000 jobs in 2015 due to its economic sanctions on Russia and Moscow’s response measures.
Germany, the EU’s largest economy, suffered the biggest financial loss estimated at 6.05 billion euros, with France coming in second with a 1.6-billion-euro loss.
Ties between Russia and the European Union deteriorated significantly since 2014 amid the crisis in Ukraine. Brussels, Washington and their allies imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia that it reciprocated with curbs on food imports.
