European Commission's flash consumer index fell 2.5 points from April,to -17.5, wiping out the tentative recoveryover the past two years as European consumers regained optimism

Despite Gordon's claims to the contrary, nobody seems to believe him that Britain is "best placed to weather the global financial turbulence", not the currency markets, not foreign investors and nor now the European Commission. The FT reports that the Commission is forecasting EU growth will slow from 1.4% cent this year to just 0.2% in 2009, while the eurozone economy would expand by 1.2% this ye...

According to the second paragraph of Article 197 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), Members of the Commission may attend all meetings and shall, at their request, be heard on behalf of the Commission. Under the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon, the first paragraph of Article 230 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) would shorten this to: The Commission m...

In a speech to the European Policy Centre yesterday, EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said that the Commission is planning on presenting plans next month which would see eurozone governments submit their national budgets to the EU for approval, before they were sent to national parliaments.

Baroness Ashton has been nominated as the British member of the European Commission to replace Peter Mandelson, but she’ll be in post only until the summer of 2009 as a new Commission takes office in autumn 2009 (presuming she can take even up the position). She would of course be eligible for full 5 year

Open Europe picks up that former European Commission President Jacques Santer, who in 1999 was forced to resign along with the entire Commission amid allegations of corruption and fraud, has been appointed as Head of the eurozone’s ‘Special Purpose Investment Vehicle’, which aims to raise billions of euros in funding to help deal with the eurozone crisis. Yes, he'll be headi...

The Rt Hon Baroness Ashton, for it is she yesterday formally announced her acceptance of he rules governing her appointment to the European Commission. SOLEMN UNDERTAKING BEFORE THE COURT OF JUSTICE BY A NEW MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION Formal sitting of 2 February 2009 Following the resignation of Mr Peter Mandelson from his duties as a member of the European Commission, the Council of the E...

Estonia is likely to become the seventeenth member of the euro zone in 2011 as its macro-economic performance remains under control despite the recession. The European Commission is set to give its green light in mid-May.

European Union countries should hand the European Commission powers to coordinate gas flows in the 27-member bloc in the event of a gas crisis, according to a draft Commission report.

European Union finance ministers are to meet today amid grim outlooks for European economies from the Commission. The Times reports that Britain’s economy is set to contract sharper than any other large European economy, with a 2.8% contraction predicted for 2008, while the eurozone is forecast to shrink 1.