European Parliament chief Martin Schulz has launched a scathing attack on the German chancellor for promoting policies he says drive up the borrowing costs of other euro-countries, while Germany has just hit a record ...

EU leaders gathering in Brussels on Wednesday (23 May) evening for an informal summit on how to invigorate the economy are likely to see a sharp exchange of views between France's new President and the German Chancellor ...

Germany's financial giant Deutsche Bank has floated the idea of a "geuro" - a parallel currency allowing Greece to devaluate while staying in the eurozone if an anti-bail-out government takes over in Athens. If left- ...

The EU statistical office, Eurostat, will this week send experts to Spain to double-check why the country's deficit for 2011 is worse than previously declared. The move was confirmed by a commission spokeswoman on ...

A weekend summit of G8 leaders hosted by US President Barack Obama stressed the need for the eurozone to focus on keeping Greece inside the euro - although plans are reportedly being drafted to deal with its potential ...

Spain's economic woes deepened on Thursday (17 May) as 16 of its banks and four regions were downgraded by Moody's ratings agency, while statistics confirmed the country is still in recession. The US-based ratings ...

Greeks have withdrawn billions of euros from their banks in recent days, with the country's president warning of "panic" at the prospect of the country leaving the eurozone. "My family already sent some €20,000 of our ...

France's newly elected president and the German Chancellor on Tuesday (15 May) both said they want Greece to remain in the eurozone, even as coalition talks collapsed over the EU-sponsored bail-out and the country is ...

EU finance ministers on Tuesday (15 May) agreed to start negotiations with the European Parliament on stricter capital rules for banks, one day after MEPs adopted their own stance on the dossier. The new rules should ...

Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Monday (14 May) lashed out at EU politicians talking "nonsense" about a Greek euro exit, and hinted at possible adjustments in the austerity programme if Greece forms a government. ...

EU finance ministers on Tuesday (15 May) are set to endorse a report on the impact of an ageing population on public finances, calling for further budget cuts and longer working periods. The 470-page-long "2012 Ageing ...

Eurozone finance ministers are to hold a "very political" meeting on Monday (14 May) amid intensified speculation of a Greek exit from the single currency and worries over the deficit implications of the Spanish bank ...

The head of the EU anti-fraud office, Giovanni Kessler, has said he can improve Brussels' reputation so long as the work of his institution is not obstructed. Set up in 1999 after a corruption scandal which led to the ...

The EU commission on Friday (11 May) confirmed earlier predictions that the eurozone economy will contract by 0.3 percent this year, with worsening forecasts for Greece, Spain and the Netherlands. In its so-called ...

The European Parliament on Thursday (10 May) decided to withhold approval on the 2010 accounts of three EU agencies marred by conflicts of interests. The council of ministers, which is refusing to disclose the way it ...

In a marked shift from its age-old taboo of accepting higher inflation, the German Bundesbank on Wednesday (10 May) said it may tolerate a devaluation of the common currency to help out crisis-hit countries suffering ...

Eurozone officials on Wednesday night (9 May) agreed to pay only €4.2 billion as first bail-out tranche for Greece, an outstanding 1 billion being blocked until June, amid growing political uncertainty in Athens and ...

MEPs on Thursday (10 May) are to vote whether to punish three EU agencies for having used public money for questionable purposes and for tolerating conflicts of interest in top management. Political considerations and ...

Germany's economy is doing well in its recovery, but the country should be more "active" in helping the rest of the eurozone cope with the crisis, the International Monetary Fund has said. "As the euro area’s largest ...

Countries can no longer cook the books as Greece did for years in a row, but their reluctance to share data and adopt common accounting rules mean extra costs for the bloc's beefed-up statistics office. January 2010 was ...

Greek Conservatives failed to cobble together a coalition on Monday (7 May), with leftist leader Alexis Tsipras set to try and form a government opposing the "barbaric" bail-out, a move that would put into question the ...

With a Socialist president in France and a strong popular mandate in Greece for re-negotiating the terms of its bail-out, the German-driven focus on budget discipline in Europe may have to soften. The euro traded at its ...

Greek voters on Sunday (6 May) punished the two ruling parties responsible for the last EU bail-out and its austerity measures by giving the radical left the second highest number of votes and allowing a neo-Nazi party ...

Greece's two main parties are set for heavy losses in Sunday's (6 May) elections, with anti-bail-out groups on the extreme left and right to enter parliament for the first time, raising again the prospect of an exit ...

European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi has urged eurozone leaders to come up with a 10-year target for the common currency, saying they should accept more transfer of powers if they truly want a fiscal union. ...

An acrimonious 16-hour long meeting on stricter bank rules ended with a promise to clinch a final deal on 15 May, with Britain's George Osborne at one point saying the envisaged agreement would make him "look like an ...

EU finance ministers are Wednesday (2 May) holding a snap meeting devoted to new capital rules for banks, as the Danish EU presidency is trying to unblock the stalled talks. A core piece of legislation aimed at ...

Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker has said he "fully supports" German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble to become his successor when his mandate runs out at the end of May. According to the Luxembourg Prime Minister ...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is backing calls by the EU commission to boost the funds of the European Investment Bank (EIB), a move meant to show that leaders are putting their money where their mouth is in terms of ...

Standard & Poor's (S&P) downgraded Spain by two notches on Thursday (26 April) in a sign of persistent investor concern over the stability of the eurozone. "The downgrade reflects our view of mounting risks to Spain's ...

The secretary general of the European Court of Auditors used public funds to hire lawyers and to sue the EU's anti-fraud office (Olaf) over an inquiry into how he hired security guards. He lost the case, but no action ...

EU leaders may meet for a special summit dedicated to growth before a regular meeting at the end of June, Council chief Herman Van Rompuy said on Thursday (26 April), as several Prime Ministers stressed the need to ...

French Socialist candidate Francois Hollande has reaffirmed his intention to re-open the treaty on fiscal discipline to include a "growth pact" and said his stance is gaining support. The frontrunner in the French ...

Budget cuts may be deepening the recession, but governments should not give up now, European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi said on Wednesday (25 April) at a hearing in the European Parliament. "We are just in ...

EU Council chief Herman Van Rompuy has spoken out against the "winds of populism" threatening freedom of movement in the Union - a swipe at anti-immigrant discourse in French elections and on the Dutch political scene. ...

Greece's central bank governor said his country would have to leave the eurozone if politicians do not stick to the austerity programme after elections due to take place on 6 May. "What is at stake is the choice between ...

Scrutinised neither by national audit offices nor by the European Parliament, the two eurozone bail-out funds amounting to €700 billion lack democratic oversight and accountability, several auditors and MEPs said on ...

EU countries in 2011 managed to reduce their deficits, but they accumulated more debt compared to the previous year, the bloc's statistics office said Monday (23 April). Overall government deficit in the EU stood at 4.5 ...

The Netherlands must keep its commitments to reduce its budget deficit in line with rules it co-authored in 1997 during the Dutch EU presidency, irrespective of the political crisis in the country, the EU commission ...

Finance ministers from emerging countries over the weekend joined Europe in doubling the coffers of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), while asking for a bigger say in its governance and warning the eurozone to ...

Spain's deficit troubles are likely to dominate the Brussels debate this week, as the statistics office is to publish the 2008-2011 figures for all EU member states on Monday (23 April). The statistics are keenly ...

Spain has approved €10 billion of spending cuts and higher fees for education and health in a bid to show investors it is getting its deficit under control. Speaking on the eve of the cabinet decision on Friday (20 ...

A Franco-German letter calling for reform of EU border-free area rules is being seen by diplomats as political support for Nicolas Sarkozy ahead of Sunday's (22 April) elections. The letter - signed by the French and ...

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday (19 April) warned of "dark clouds" hanging over the global recovery, with the eurozone at the heart of the problem. "We are seeing light recovery, blowing ...

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti followed in the footsteps of his Spanish counterpart on Wednesday (18 April) by announcing that Italy would need extra time to reaching its deficit target amid a deepening recession. ...

With less than a month to general elections in Greece where radical parties are expected to score well, the European Commission is trying change the impression among Greeks that the EU is only about imposing austerity ...

The EU commission has proposed new rules on how to shield national statistics bureaus from political influence, three years after Greece lied about its deficit, triggering its first bail-out and marking the start of the ...

Legal challenges in Germany, Ireland and Estonia, as well as political uncertainty in the Netherlands, may delay the setting up of a permanent eurozone bail-out fund at a time when Spain's economic woes require a strong ...

Germany has rejected Nicolas Sarkozy's idea to change the rules of the European Central Bank (ECB) bank if he gets re-elected as French president. “The German position on the ECB and its role – independent of ...