Economy of the European Union

EU insider at the helm

Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker was approved Tuesday as the next president of the European Commission, winning the backing of European lawmakers to head the EU’s powerful executive for the next five years.

Greece comfortably beats budget target for first six months of 2014

Greece beat its budget target for the first half of the year, with a primary surplus of 712 million euros, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.

This figure was far better than the government’s target of a 635-million-euro deficit.

“Fiscal targets are being met for a third consecutive year,» said Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras.

Bosnia Sums Up Flood Needs Before Donors Conference

As a donors conference prepares to start work this week in Brussels, Bosnia said it had raised only 250 million euro of the 2 billion it needs to repair the damage caused by devastating floods in May.

The money gathered so far came from credits, initial donations and from the budgets of the country's own institutions.

ECB under pressure to stem strength of euro down

The European Central Bank (ECB) is coming under increasing pressure to do more to stem the strength of the euro currency, which is hurting exporters and keeping a lid on the region’s recovery from recession.

ECB President Mario Draghi is likely to face questions on what can be done to reduce the value of the euro when he faces lawmakers at the European Parliament July 14.

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