EU's GDP to Grow Only Slowly Until 2016

Economic growth for the rest of 2014 in both the EU and the euro area will be weak, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

According to the Commission's autumn economic forecasts, real GDP growth for the whole of 2014 is expected to reach 1.3% in EU-28 and 0.8% in the eurozone, the EU executive body said in a press release.

Growth is expected to accelerate slowly next year driven by improving foreign and domestic demand, to reach 1.5% in EU-28 and 1.1% in the eurozone, respectively.

A further improvement is projected for 2016, with economic growth accelerating to 2.0% and 1.7% respectively, on the back of the strengthening of the financial sector as well as recent structural reforms starting to bear fruit.

Jyrki Katainen, European Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, commented: "The economic and employment situation is not improving fast enough. We will put forward a EUR 300B investment plan to kick-start and sustain economic recovery."