EURO-AREA inflation remained unchanged in August and unemployment held steady for a second month in July as economic growth in the region slowed amid a persistent sovereign debt crisis.

The issue of the interest rate on Ireland's bailout will not feature on the agenda at the EU summit taking place tomorrow and Friday.

IRELAND’S gross domestic product is expected to have contracted for the third year running in 2010.

Europe's Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Oli Rehn has said a lowering of the interest rate of Ireland's bailout package will be discussed.

Ireland should approve next year’s budget as soon as possible, Europe’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn urged today.

FURTHER assurances were offered yesterday that there would be no change in Ireland’s corporation tax rate unless the Government decides so.

The European Commission has nearly doubled the amount of growth it is predicting for the eurozone this year.

TENS of thousands of protesters marched through the Greek capital after parliament approved drastic austerity cuts needed to secure international rescue loans worth €110 billion.

The economy will not begin to recover from the recession until 2010, European officials claimed today.

The European economy will “grind to a standstill” next year, the European Commission warned today.

Rocketing energy and food prices are making Europe poorer, the EU’s top economy official said today.

THE European Commission sharply reduced its growth forecast for this year as the cool winds of the slowing global economy affects both the EU and eurozone areas.

THE future health of Ireland’s public finances is at risk because of the costs of looking after an ageing population and slowdown in housing, a European Commission report has warned.

SLOWER energy price growth curbed eurozone inflation more than initially estimated in September, but the ECB still looks set to raise interest rates in December.

THE annual growth forecast for the EU has been upgraded by the European Commission to 2.3% following better than expected results during the first half of this year and despite the 80% increase in oil prices over the past 18 months.

IRELAND needs further reforms in healthcare and pensions if the economy is to survive the impact of an aging population in the long run, the European Commission has warned.

THE European Commission was upbeat in its forecast of economic growth in the EU next year yesterday, echoing the mood of the European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet earlier this week.

EUROPE’S economy lost steam in late 2005 as German growth screeched to a halt, but European Union finance ministers and economists yesterday clung to the belief that a long-forecast upturn would materialise this year.

EUROPEAN Union finance ministers told Britain yesterday it was running an excessive budget deficit and gave the country until the 2006/2007 fiscal year to bring the gap below the EU ceiling of 3%.

BRITAIN was told by the European Commission that it must comply with EU rules and cut its budget deficit for the next year.

THE EU believes the Irish economy will grow by 5% next year well ahead of the region’s average forecast growth of 1.2%.

THE European Commission will make a decision on what to do about excessive budget deficits in Germany and France in November, spokeswoman Amelia Torres said yesterday.

THE European Commission said it had no grounds to revise its forecast for 2% gross domestic product growth in the euro zone in 2005, despite the emergence of a gloomier economic picture in recent weeks.

The EU’s executive may take legal steps against Greece for violating accounting rules, which led it to sharply underestimate budget deficits, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Thursday.

European finance ministers warned Germany today that it would have trouble meeting its commitment to rein in its budget deficit next year if growth fails to meet Berlin’s optimistic projections.

European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pedro Solbes said today that the continuing strengthening of the euro could affect business confidence in the euro zone.

THE European Commission issued a broadly positive report yesterday on Ireland's economic growth and stability over the next two years.

Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy said he would support countries having to set money aside during the good times as part of a revised Growth and Stability Pact governing euro countries.

FINANCE Minister Charlie McCreevy is set to become embroiled in the row over the French and German budget deficits as he takes over the chair of the EU Ecofin Council.

THERE are tentative signs that the downturn in Europe’s economy is at an end and that an upturn, especially in the eurozone, is in sight.

Ireland's fiercest critic in the European Union is in Dublin for a meeting with Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy.