Economy of the European Union

Just a few hours ahead of the critical Eurogroup meeting on Monday, where the Eurozone Finance Minister will be called to decide Greece's future, a wave of solidarity sweeps the continent.

Thousands of citizens will gather today in many European cities to express their support for Greece and protest against austerity.

By Alexis Papachelas

Greek and EU officials met for talks Saturday ahead of a high-stakes show-down over Athens' demands for a radical restructuring of its massive international bailout programme.

"It is not a negotiation but an exchange of views to better understand each other's position,» an EU official said of the final huddle before next week's crunch meeting.

The project of the motorway linking Comarnic to Brasov (north of the capital) will go on if the authorities manage to restructure it, namely to find a financial model to be more efficient for the Romanian budget, in the achievement of which such international financial institutions as the EIB and the EBRD should take part, Transport Minister Ioan Rus told AGERPRES on Saturday.

In an article entitled "Final showdown approaches for EU and Greece," Peter Spiegel, the correspondent for the Financial Times in Brussels, presents three possible scenarios with regard to the negotiations between Greece and its creditors, in view of the critical Eurogroup meeting on Monday.

According to government sources Mr. Lew stressed over the phone that the “US supports the success of Greece’s talks with its European partners for an agreed exit from crisis program and the importance that this development has to financial stability in Europe “.

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker attempted to lower expectations on Friday of a successful conclusion to ongoing talks between eurozone partners and Greece, saying the Eurogroup is “far away from a deal”.

Support among Germans for Greece staying in the eurozone has grown over the past three years despite the new government in Athens rejecting its international bailout deal, a poll for German television ARD showed on Friday.

In a further easing of restrictions on money transfers, Cyprus?s Finance Ministry said on Friday it has raised the amount of money individuals can now take out of the country at any one time to 50,000 euros.

The Finance Ministry announced the increase from the previous limit of 20,000 euros.

The ?urozone area has shown a 0.3% GDP growth over the last quarter of 2014 as compared to the previous one, while the EU28 countries altogether performed even better with 0.4% increase according to a Eurostat report published on Friday.

Compared to results from the same period of 2013, the seasonally adjusted GDP of the eurozone rose by 0.9%, and by 1.3% in all EU28 countries.