The surge in oil prices threatens growth in Europe and could be a blow to already faltering efforts to reform Europe’s economy and make it more dynamic in the years ahead, the European Commission said Tuesday.
“The present very high oil prices are without doubt of concern to the European Union,” EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebals told a news conference at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
He said the EU Executive Commission was concerned that rising fuel costs will impact adversely not only on the well-being of “EU citizens but also regarding their effect on economic growth,” notably the ambitious goal to make the EU the world’s most dynamic economy by 2010.
The EU’s ambitious economic reform agenda — launched in 2000 — ranges from cutting red tape to labor market reforms to making significant investments in information technologies.
It has missed major targets in recent years, leading to friction between pro-free trade EU members led by Britain and more protectionist-minded countries led by France.
Related Travel Information
Europes doctors grapple with infant viability
Europes trend toward mothering at a more mature age is contributing to a new wave of ethical challenges for doctors in the delivery room.
Medical researchers in Norway, Belgium and other countries say doctors are facing increasingly difficult questions about the limits of post-delivery care for extremely premature babies.
Along with parents, doctors find themselves grappling with questions about how and when to withdraw or withhold care for those newborns whose chances of survival are slim.
More : news.monstersandcritics.com
Remnants of Delta Now Threaten Africa
MIAMI -- The still-powerful remnants of Tropical Storm Delta could bring strong wind to the northwestern coast of Africa and the Canary and Madeira Islands, forecasters said.
The 25th named storm in the record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season had top sustained winds near 65 mph, up from 40 mph Sunday.
At 10 a.m. EST, Delta was centered about 175 miles northwest of La Palma in the Canary Islands and about 250 miles southwest of Funchal in the Madeira Islands.
It was moving east near 30 mph and was projected pass between the Canary and Madeira Islands before reaching the
America betting against the house
The month of August is a time for reflection in financial markets. Volumes decline, as investors in the US and Europe take summer vacations. Those left behind have the leisure to reflect on longer term trends and risks in the world economy. This year, the collective focus of the international investment community has been on housing - specifically the US housing market - and what that sector may mean for the global economy.
US housing has exerted several positive influences on the US economy: employment; direct consumption; refinancing; wealth effects. Housing allowed consumer spending to remain
A top European official Friday accepted, with resignation, the IMF's description of the European economy as one of the weakest in the global economy.
"As you know, as the IMF outlook has shown during this week, the European economy is the laggard of the rate of the whole world," said Joaquin Almunia, the European Union economics minister at a briefing for reporters.
He said the fundamental problem was that European consumers lacked confidence in the future, perhaps out of a concern that their social safety net was too expensive to be sustained.
Politicians were reluctant to press necessary economic reforms in such
Rate hikes hurt Europes stocks
European stocks fell Thursday after the Bank of England unexpectedly joined the European Central Bank in raising interest rates, causing concern that economic growth will fade.
The concern is that central banks will raise rates more than necessary just when growth is slowing and thus push the economy over the edge, said Greg Bennett, investment director at Marlborough Partners in London.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index slipped 0.8 percent. The Stoxx 50 retreated 0.9 percent. The Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the nations sharing the euro, lost 0.8 percent. National benchmarks fell in all 18 Western
