Withdrawal from the European Union

Britain's opposition Labour Party will back Prime Minister David Cameron's plans to hold a referendum on the country's European Union membership by the end of 2017, its acting leader said on May 24.

EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has reportedly drafted a compromise deal to break a deadlock between institutional lenders and the increasingly bewildered radical leftist government in Athens, although the latter indirectly replied on Monday that it was unaware of such an initiative.

 The gov?t had better act fast and deliver the kind of structural reforms that will make the difference

By Dimitris Kontogiannis

Brussels warned on Tuesday that if Athens continues on the current course there will be no growth in the coming year and a return to soaring national debt levels after slashing forecasts for Greece.  The European Commission’s forecasts, based on the status of bailout talks two weeks ago, dependent on Athens reaching a deal to secure €7.2bn benchmarked for the country in bailout financing by Jun

Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan added to calls on Greece to come up with proposals to open the way for a deal on fresh finance from international lenders, but said policy makers were not working on a scenario for Greece leaving the euro.

A majority of Parliament MPs late on Friday approved the leftist government's urgently tabled legislative act ordering roughly 1,500 state-run entities - local governments, universities etc. - to transfer their cash reserves to the Bank of Greece - a decision linked directly to dwindling money in state coffers.

Fairfax Financial Holdings, which bet on the success of a Greek turnaround last year, said on Thursday it is confident that Greece will reach a deal with its counterparts in the eurozone and remain a part of the currency bloc.

With an agreement between cash-strapped Athens and EZ creditors still pending, the radical leftist Greek government on Friday ? via the unofficial route ? pointed to four areas where differences remain: pension reform, labor relations, a hike in VAT rates and "exploitation" of public assets.

Kasia Klimasinska & Peter Cook

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew urged Greece and its international creditors to reach an agreement on steps that need to be taken to avoid the nation?s exit from the euro and any resulting crisis.

FT weighed into the "Greek issue" on Monday with "do-or-die" scenario it says the leftist Greek government is considering this month if it doesn't achieve a loan agreement with EZ creditors to unblock more than seven billion euros in bailout loans.