Economy of the European Union

By Rebecca Christie

The European Union wants to know how far its national governments are willing to go to ensure that the euro area’s new bank resolution authority has the funds it needs in an emergency.

Croatia’s Deputy Interior Ministry, Petar Tonkovic, revealed the bill for the May floods on Wednesday as he presented a report on implementation of measures to cope with flood damage and repair the terrain in Vukovar-Syrmia County, which was worst hit by the rain.

Romania received from the European Union (EU) budget 24.67 billion euros since the accession in 2007 until the end of the first semester of 2014 and paid to the EU 10.2 billion euros in the same period, the flow balance being in Romania's favour with 14.46 billion euros, according to the Report on the economic and budget situation on the first six months of 2014 drawn up by the Pu

Bulgaria is one of just three EU member states where over 50 percent of people do not feel like European citizens, a Eurobarometer survey has shown.

About 53% of Bulgarians, 50% of Italians and 51% of Greeks do not regard themselves as having an EU identity, according to a message on the European Commission's website.

Croatia’s external gross debt has hit 46.4 billion euro, an all-time record, 108 per cent of the annual GDP, the country’s main bank reported.

Compared to the same period in 2013, the Croatian National Bank, HNB, reported a 3.3-per-cent rise in the debt in the first trimester of 2014.

LONDON/NICOSIA – Bank of Cyprus, which has just raised 1 billion euros from investors, plans to sell up to 1 billion euros in bonds in September, chief executive John Hourican said, a move that would mark a rehabilitation of the eurozone’s first bank to recapitalize using depositors’ cash.

By George Georgiopoulos

Greece wants the European Central Bank's health checks on its four biggest banks later this year to take account of their new restructuring plans rather than being based on last year's balance sheet data alone, a Greek finance ministry official said on Monday.

By Stefan Riecher & Giovanni Salzano

When the European Central Bank unleashed a stimulus barrage in June, it cautioned that the economy would take some time to respond. Data due this week may test its patience.

The Bulgarian Association of Agricultural Producers (BAAP) has opposed plans of the government to impose a EUR 300 000 cap on the annual amount of area-based direct payments.

Talks between the coalition leaders last week led to them finalizing the requests that Athens will make regarding the easing of adjustment measures when the troika returns to Greece but European officials have warned that if the government does not stick to its pledges it will be forced to agree to a third bailout.