European Commission Spokesman

(Reuters) - An anti-austerity backlash by voters in Greece and France shook the euro zone on Monday, causing jitters for the euro currency and stock markets amid deepening doubts about whether Greece has a future in the single currency. Greece, where Europe's sovereign debt crisis began in 2009, slid into turmoil after an election on Sunday boosted left and right-wing fringe parties, stripping the two mainstream parties that backed a painful EU/IMF bailout of their parliamentary majority. Uncertainty over whether the country could avert bankruptcy and stay in the euro deepened on Monday when Antonis Samaras, leader of the conservative New Democracy party which won the biggest share of the vote, failed within hours to cobble together a government. Samaras had had three days to form a ...

(Reuters) - Child psychologist Denise Dulcic has suffered first-hand the economic downturn and fiscal squeeze that is gripping the Netherlands and says she is "just surviving". When the government cut back on subsidies for the disabled in a package of austerity measures intended to bring a bloated budget deficit under control, Dulcic's contract working with disabled youths at a secondary school was not renewed. "It is really difficult to make a living," she said. "I cut back on food. I'm not going out. Holidays? Forget about it." With the economy in recession, unemployment has crept up to 6 percent, the highest since early 2006, while disposable household income has fallen for the fourth year in a row. One in eight Dutch households barely manages to make ends meet, statistics show, ...

(Reuters) - Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos formally submitted his candidacy to lead the Socialist PASOK party on Saturday, as the focus in Athens shifted to elections expected once an international bailout deal is cleared. Greece averted the immediate threat of an uncontrolled default on Thursday when it successfully concluded a bond swap deal under which private sector creditors agreed to accept deep cuts in the value of their holdings. "There is now more than just recession, budget cuts and tax increases ... there's the hope to turn the wheel of growth," he told a party conference. In a sharp reminder of the deep unpopularity of the austerity measures he has overseen, a pensioner on crutches hurled yoghurt at the burly Venizelos just before his speech, forcing him to delay ...

Oil prices fell 2 percent on Friday after Saudi Arabia eased investor concerns about a reported pipeline explosion that had pushed Brent to the highest level since 2008. Both Brent and U.S. crude retreated and ended with weekly losses after Brent futures jumped above $128 a barrel to levels last seen in July 2008 in post-settlement trade on Thursday, reacting to an Iranian media report of a pipeline fire in Saudi Arabia. The surge in prices Thursday was short-lived and Saudi Arabia said on Friday that there had been no attack in the kingdom. "There were no acts of sabotage in the kingdom yesterday," Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki told Reuters. He did not elaborate. Brent April crude fell $2.55 to settle at $123.65 a barrel, having traded as low as $123.12, testing below ...

(Reuters) - European Commission officials raided the offices of two electricity exchanges on Tuesday following concerns their planned tie up may infringe European competition laws, the companies said. Paris-based EPEX Spot and Norway's Nordpool Spot, which offer short-term electricity trading platforms for French, German, Austrian, Swiss and Scandinavian power, in September announced plans to create a joint exchange which would cover more than half of Europe's spot electricity trades. "Yes, our office was searched today. We expect the raids were carried out in relation to our cooperation with Nordpool Spot," a spokesman for EPEX Spot said. The European Commission said it was concerned the companies may have violated European antitrust rules that prohibit cartels, without giving further ...

(Reuters) - The euro dropped against the dollar on Monday as Greece's political leaders delayed a decision on a new bailout package, raising concerns of a disorderly default that could spread to other debt-ridden countries in the region. A European Commission spokesman said Greece was already past the deadline for finalizing talks on a second financing package and needed to move urgently. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Greece to make up its mind quickly on accepting the painful terms for a new EU/IMF bailout, but the country's political leaders responded by delaying their decision for yet another day. "Headlines out of Europe are affecting sentiment on the euro. Earlier, we had hit stop losses in the euro and we saw it trim some losses. But it's more of the same," said Brian Dolan, ...

(Reuters) - The euro weakened against the dollar on Monday, after the failure of Greek coalition parties to approve the terms of a new bailout package rekindled worries about a chaotic default that could spread to other debt-ridden, euro zone countries. A European Commission spokesman said Greece had already gone beyond the deadline for finalizing talks on the second financing package from the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund, and Athens needed urgently to take decisions. Greece's coalition members must agree to painful terms of a new bailout worth 130 billion euros before euro zone finance ministers next meet. Continued failure to reach a deal would leave the prospect of an unmanaged Greek debt default when bond repayments fall due in March. A meeting of Greek political ...

(Reuters) - The euro rose on Tuesday as better than expected economic data boosted riskier assets and triggered short-covering, but it was likely to remain pressured in 2012 on worries over high sovereign debt and low growth in the euro zone. Sentiment was boosted by better Chinese manufacturing and service data, while German unemployment fell more than forecast after Monday's manufacturing PMI showed less contraction than expected. A rally in European shares on the back of the figures suggested warming appetite for riskier assets at the start of the year. .EU This pushed the euro 1 percent higher on the day to $1.3059, pulling away from its 2011 trough of $1.2858 hit last week on trading platform EBS. The single currency started 2012 on an upbeat note, having lost 3 percent last year. ...

FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK at 0800 GMT (EDT +0400) USD The euro did not manage to sustain its Friday strength but at this stage the Eurozone’s leaders would probably be content that the market is not selling off en masse and this week’s bond supply can simply pass without incident. There were no major developments over the weekend, though financing for the IMF appears to be taking shape with major central banks inEuropeready to increase their commitments, though as ECB President Draghi warned last week, the legalities still need to be resolved. The ECB itself will be keeping a close eye on the banking system to gauge the effect of its announcements at last week’s policy meeting. Taking into account the ECB’s ‘menu’ for the banks and the EU decisions, perhaps markets have less reason to fear ...