This WEEK in the European Union

Debate over Greece's ongoing budgetary problem is set to rumble on this week, with the European Commission scheduled to release its opinion on the government's stability programme on Wednesday.

On 14 January, the Greek government outlined an ambitious plan to bring the country's deficit to within EU limits by 2012, but analysts question the centre-left Pasok administration's ability to push through the tough spending cuts without sparking social unrest.

The commission opinion and accompanying press conference by EU economic commissioner Joaquin Almunia are likely to move markets, with last week's headlines causing Greek bond yields to see-saw.

Speculation is rife that member states and EU institutions are quickly cobbling together a plan to funnel extra funding towards Greece, in a bid to avoid the country's rising borrowing costs leading to a sovereign debt default, with subsequent knock-on effects for other euro area members.

As well as issuing its opinion on the Greek plan, the commission is also set on Wednesday to ask for greater auditing powers for the EU's statistics office, Eurostat.

In October, the newly elected Greek PASOK government upwardly revised its 2008 and 2009 deficit figures, sparking outrage among EU member states as the reliability of the country's financial statistics was once again called into question.

Bulgarian hearing - round two

Wednesday will also see MEPs from the parliament's development committee question Bulgaria's replacement commission candidate, Kristalina Georgieva, after former nominee Rumiana Jeleva was forced to pull out after a tough hearing.

Ms Georgieva is currently a high flier at the World Bank, with a plenary vote on the full commission team expected on 9 February.

Monday sees the official start of the EU's temporary agreement with the US on the sharing of data on financial transactions, with parliament's civil liberties committee set to debate the controversial Swift issue on Thursday.

On Tuesday, the commission will release a social situation report 2009 on EU home ownership and housing costs, together with a Eurobarometer survey on EU citizens' perceptions of their personal situation.

With EU unemployment continuing its rise, the commission will organise a conference on Thursday to present the key findings of the 'New skills for New Jobs' high-level expert group, providing recommendations on how to boost employment levels across the region.

Finance ministers from the Group of Seven richest nations will meet in Canada on Friday and Saturday, with recent US bank reform proposals set to be a key focal point.