Economic growth in the eurozone slowed in the second quarter as France stagnated and Italy lost momentum, held back by an uncertain global outlook that is even weakening investment in powerhouse Germany.

Northern eurozone countries may seek to use financial incentives to push nations in the rest of the region to adopt economic policies they say are needed to shake off the legacy of the sovereign-debt crisis.

At the start of the summer, Europe stood at the edge of the abyss.

The head of Germany’s Bundesbank stepped up his opposition to the European Central Bank’s latest moves to battle the eurozone’s debt crisis yesterday, saying that plans to buy bonds risked becoming a drug on which governments would get hooked.