The European Central Bank raised interest rates Thursday for the first time in 11 years, joining steps already taken by the U.S. Federal Reserve and other major central banks but raising new questions about whether the rush to make credit more expensive will plunge major economies into recession at the price of fighting inflation.

The bank's surprise hike of half a percentage point for the 19 countries using the euro currency is expected to be followed by another increase in September, possibly of another half a point.

Europe faced an energy crisis even before drama emerged about the Nord Stream 1 pipeline reopening from Russia to Germany.

While natural gas started flowing again Thursday after the major pipeline shut down for 10 days of maintenance, Europe will still struggle to keep homes warm and industry humming this winter.

Natural gas started flowing through a major pipeline from Russia to Europe on Thursday after a 10-day shutdown for maintenance, the operator said.

But the gas flow was expected to fall well short of full capacity and the outlook was uncertain — which leaves Europe still facing the prospect of a hard winter.

The European Union's head office on Wednesday proposed that member states cut their gas use by 15% over the coming months as the bloc braced for a possible full Russian cutoff of natural gas supplies that could add a big chill to the upcoming winter.

While the initial cuts would be voluntary, the Commission also asked for the power to impose mandatory reductions across the bloc in the event of an EU-wide emergency caused by what Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saw as a deliberate attempt by President Vladimir Putin to weaponize gas exports.

The EU is preparing to carve out exceptions in its tough sanctions against Moscow that would unblock assets at Russian banks linked to trade in food and fertilizer, a document showed on Tuesday.

European planemaker Airbus trailed its fierce U.S. rival Boeing in an orders battle on the second day of the Farnborough airshow on Tuesday, as southern England buckled under a record heatwave.

Stock markets mostly advanced on Tuesday, while the euro rallied against the dollar as traders looked ahead to a key European Central Bank meeting later this week.

Scandinavian Airlines pilots in Sweden, Norway and Denmark early Tuesday called off a strike that has been causing major disruption for 15 days after reaching a deal with management.

The carrier has said the strike has led to the cancellation of around half of all SAS scheduled flights and had impacted thousands of passengers per day.

The Central Bank issued Tuesday a ruling that allows the payment through debit cards from fresh dollar accounts, starting July 25.

"The payments in fresh dollars will be made via the "Visa" and "MasterCard" companies," the Central Bank said in a statement, adding that the ruling will boost the economic activity.

A ministerial committee on Monday agreed to grant civil servants financial incentives aimed at putting an end to a public sector strike that has paralyzed state administrations.

The committee also decided to revoke a salary hike that had been recently granted to judges in an exclusive manner.