Greek shares plunge on first day of market reopen

The main Athens stock index, the Athex, ended the day down by 16.23% as trading resumed after a five-week closure.

Luxembourg and Juncker under pressure over tax deals

French, German and Dutch finance ministers have rounded on Luxembourg for allowing multinational companies to create complicated structures to avoid billions of dollars of tax.

Britain and Cameron in EU danger zone, say experts

London (AFP) - David Cameron's failure to prevent Jean-Claude Juncker from becoming the new European Commission president risks pushing Britain out of the EU unless he builds bridges to secure reforms before a 2017 referendum, experts say.

Spanish banks face tough rivalry in small companies bet

MADRID (Reuters) - Across Spain, the message is hard to miss in office windows showcasing offers: banks want to lend to small companies again.

EU to approve bank rules before May election slows legislative machine

(Reuters) - The European Union will sign off on a slew of major reforms this week to allow failing banks to be wound down without public money, clearing its desk before elections in May that may lead to a slower pace of legislation.

Germany says trusts France will stick to EU stability pact

(Reuters) - The German government is confident France will respect the terms of the European Union's Stability and Growth Pact even after Paris indicated it would seek to renegotiate its deficit-reduction deadline with the European Commission, a government spokesman said on Friday.

OECD delivers new global standard to target tax cheats

The OECD on Sunday delivered a new global standard to crack down on tax evasion with more than 40 countries already committing to measures which the European Commission called "a big step" forward.

IMF warns Slovenia against complacency after fixing banks

LJUBLJANA: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Slovenia on Friday against complacency after taking a first step towards fixing its banking system, urging it restructure the corporate and banking sectors.

EU ministers seal banking agreement on eve of Brussels summit

EU finance ministers announced late on Wednesday night that they had reached agreement on a new system for dealing with eurozone banks, under intense pressure to seal the accord on their new flagship policy in advance of a two-day Brussels summit opening on Thursday.

European Union inches towards 'Banking Union'

BRUSSELS: EU finance ministers on Tuesday edged towards a difficult compromise on a Banking Union they hope will prevent a repeat of crippling crises and inject new impetus into the economy.

Italy, Spain Face Budget Scrutiny as Euro Ministers Meet

Italy and Spain will defend their 2014 spending plans at a meeting of euro-area finance ministers today, risking a clash over economic frailties that could undermine efforts to pull the currency bloc out of a debt crisis now in its fifth year.

EU, US aim to overcome key trade talks barrier by January

Differences on norms set for anything from food and aviation safety, to standards for electric cars or the regulation of financial services, stand in the way of efforts to strike an ambitious transatlantic deal creating the world's largest free trade area.

France signals shift to tax cuts in boost to business

France's Socialist government is hinting it may appease discontent at tax rises by putting more stress on spending cuts in its fight to control the budget and boost growth.

Franco-German EU deal puts onus on Francois Hollande to reform

PARIS: A Franco-German deal to strengthen the euro zone has ended months of bickering between Paris and Berlin and raised the onus on French President Francois Hollande to embark on potentially explosive social and economic reforms.

Coeure says ECB ready to help set up financial transaction tax - FT

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is willing to offer help setting up Europe's planned financial transaction tax to ensure the levy does not destabilise financial markets, the Financial Times quoted a policymaker on Monday as saying.

Special Report: How Mario Draghi is reshaping Europe's central bank

(Reuters) - The banker now in charge of rescuing the euro wants his top staff to take Sundays off. Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, eschews long meetings and refrains from lecturing his colleagues, senior ECB officials say.

Don't Rely on Banking Union to Solve Euro Zone Crisis

Conventional wisdom has it that the euro zone needs a banking union to solve its crisis. This is wrong. Not only are there alternatives to an integrated regulatory structure for the zone’s 6,000 banks, but centralization will undermine national sovereignty.

ECB to hold rates, guidance for 2013 eyed

(Reuters) - The European Central Bank may give a guide to next year's policy path when it delivers fresh forecasts for the euro zone economy on Thursday at a meeting where it is expected to leave interest rates at a record low.

European Commission Approves Bailout of Four Spanish Banks

The European Commission on Wednesday approved a payment of €37 billion, or $48 billion, from the euro zone bailout fund to four Spanish banks on the condition that they lay off thousands of employees and close offices as part of their restructuring.

Public Anger Over Europe’s Budget, and Wine Cellar, Bubbles Before Talks

BRUSSELS — Amid wrangling over how much money the European Union spends at a time of grinding austerity across the Continent, Martin Ehrenhauser, an Austrian member of the European Parliament, lobbed a sobering question this summer at the union’s Brussels bureaucracy: How many bottles of booze does it have stocked in its wine cellars?