About: Eurozone
France to convince member states on size of eurozone budget
Since the June agreement on the eurozone budget, blockages have persisted between the 19 members of the euro area. But France is now taking an active role in persuading the others of the need to pin down practical details. EURACTIV France reports.
France urges Germany to follow its example with budget stimulus
France will cut taxes by more than €10 billion next year and Germany should follow Paris' footsteps with fiscal stimulus to revive its flagging economy, France's finance minister said on Thursday (26 September).
French business expansion slows amid sluggish eurozone
France's private sector is growing at a slower rate and has reached the lowest level in the past four months, according to forecasts published by IHS Markit on Monday (23 September). For the eurozone, business expansion fell to the lowest level since June 2013. EURACTIV's partner La Tribune reports.
Growing pressure on eurozone economies to launch stimulus
The European Commission and some member states including France followed the ECB in pressing Germany and other countries with fiscal space to invest more to counter the risk of recession.
The seven-point recipe to improve EU’s messy fiscal rules
The European Fiscal Board has recommended major reform of the Stability and Growth Pact in order to simplify the EU’s spending rules and favour productive investment in the era of low-interest rates.
Italy’s PM seeks EU reform as government wins confidence vote
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called Monday (9 September) for the reform of European Union budget rules and cooperation on immigration as his new government won a parliamentary confidence vote.
Recession fears grow as euro area inflation hits three-year low
Inflation in the euro area fell to 1% in July, its lowest level since 2016, according to Eurostat data released on Monday (19 August), adding pressure on the European Central Bank to consider relaunching its economic stimulus program in September.
Germany’s slowing growth is penalising the whole of Europe
The European train is slowing down as one of its main drivers, the German economy, is experiencing a slowdown. At the same time, job creation across the EU is declining. EURACTIV's partner Euroefe reports.
Unconventional measures are seeing a comeback at the ECB
The ECB's key interest rate remains at zero and is expected to be at that rate at least until summer 2020. However, ECB chief Mario Draghi is suggesting that a decisive fiscal policy is far more important for the eurozone, especially for Germany and Italy. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Commission’s forecast paves the way for new ECB stimulus
The European Commission kept its growth forecast unchanged at 1.2% on Wednesday (10 July) but revised downwards inflation to 1.3% for this year and the next, strengthening the case for further monetary stimulus as global economic risks worsen.
Croatia launches bid to join euro waiting room
Croatia launched Thursday (4 July) a bid to join Europe's Exchange Rate Mechanism II, the two-year waiting room for eurozone candidates which pegs their currencies to the euro, the national bank said.
EU fiscal board insists on stabilisation mechanism
Any systemic shock will not affect just some countries but the whole euro area so if member states want to counter it adequately, they need to have a central fiscal capacity, European Fiscal Board (EFB) president Niels Thygesen told reporters on Tuesday (25 June).
Italy’s Tria sees no obstacles to budget deal with EU
Italy's economy minister said on Tuesday (25 June) he was confident of reaching an agreement with the European Union over the country's budget, adding that deficit targets in a draft deal would reflect a "more than prudent" fiscal policy.
Stabilisation mechanism in induced coma after EU leaders’ meeting
EU leaders failed to inject further ambition to a Eurogroup deal on watered-down reforms of the Economic and Monetary Union, including a budgetary instrument for the eurozone, at the Euro summit on Friday (21 June).
Trade tensions boosted international role of euro, ECB reports
Trade tensions, challenges to multilateralism and unilateral sanctions might be bad for the economy but they have helped boost the global use of the euro, the European Central Bank reported on Thursday (13 June).
Far from ‘devalued’, euro surges as trade war hits yuan
If evidence is needed of how far ripples from the Sino-US trade war are reaching, have a look at Europe where the yuan’s slump is driving up the euro’s value against trade partners’ currencies, handicapping the export-reliant bloc’s economy. Contrary...
Eurogroup to nudge forward EMU reform before next week’s EU summit
EU finance ministers will try to close a deal on deepening the Economic and Monetary Union, including a tentative new budget for the eurozone, during the Eurogroup meeting on Thursday (13 June) in an inclusive format.
Global growth continues to weaken, World Bank report confirms
After the IMF and the OECD, the World Bank has also cut its 2019 growth forecasts. Uncertainties over trade and investment are at the root of this slowdown, which is also affecting the eurozone. EURACTIV France reports.
Growing concerns over Greece and Italy, as negotiations stall on eurozone budget
Latest Greece and Italy’s fiscal plans raised concerns in Brussels, as the Eurogroup met for another round of negotiations on the budgetary instrument for the Eurozone on Thursday (16 May), without major achievements.
Italy accuses EU of prejudice after grim economic forecasts
Italy accused EU authorities of prejudice on Tuesday (7 May) after they forecast the euro zone's third largest economy would stagnate this year and its huge public debt would rise further.
Juncker points the finger at Germany, Austria, Netherlands for impeding eurozone reform
The Netherlands, Austria "and all too often Germany" are preventing deeper euro zone integration, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told German newspaper Handelsblatt.
Ahead of EU polls, Poland’s Kaczynski urges crossparty anti-euro stance
The leader of Poland’s ruling conservatives on Wednesday (17 April) urged opposition leaders to back its view that the country should not join the euro until its economy is on a par with that of western neighbours. When Poland joined...
Eurogroup keeps anti-shock capacity for eurozone budget off the table
Eurogroup president Mario Centeno said late on Monday (11 March) that the future eurozone budget would not include a stabilisation function, despite insistance by France and a handful of other countries to broaden its scope.