Germany’s Constitutional Court gave a green light yesterday for the country to ratify Europe’s new bailout fund, boosting hopes that the single currency bloc is finally putting in place the tools to resolve its three-year old debt crisis.

SHARES across Europe took a hammering yesterday with Irish stocks losing 1.5% of their value, rounding off a turbulent week on the markets.

France’s unemployment rate jumped to 10%, the highest in a decade a figure likely to influence voters ahead of regional elections, figures released today showed.