The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, on Wednesday revised its forecast for the economy of the entire region, saying that it now expected gross domestic product to contract by 0.3 percent on an annual basis this year, rather than remaining flat as it predicted in the spring.
Countries that use the euro have slashed spending and promised to keep their deficits in check; they've vowed to better protect their banks by improving how they're regulated and supervised; and the European Central Bank has put in place a plan to help countries struggling with high borrowing costs, the hallmark of the crisis and the reason some have sought bailouts.
In the latest in a steady stream of job cuts, Danish wind turbine maker Vestas, Swedish wireless equipment group LM Ericsson, and Dutch bank ING announced a total of almost 7,000 layoffs Wednesday.
In the spring, the commission had hoped growth would be flat in 2013.
Because low or negative growth reduces the amount of money governments receive in taxes, stagnation also threatens to throw countries off their deficit targets.
According to the report, both Greece and Spain won't meet their goal of reducing their deficits to 3 percent by 2014.
In a speech given in Frankfurt, Draghi called on governments to back up the ECB's plans to help countries with their borrowing costs by cutting debt and improving growth through cutting excessive red tape.
Countries that use the euro have slashed spending and promised to keep their deficits in check; they've vowed to better protect their banks by improving how they're regulated and supervised; and the European Central Bank has put in place a plan to help countries struggling with high borrowing costs, the hallmark of the crisis and the reason some have sought bailouts.
In the latest in a steady stream of job cuts, Danish wind turbine maker Vestas, Swedish wireless equipment group LM Ericsson, and Dutch bank ING announced a total of almost 7,000 layoffs Wednesday.
In the spring, the commission had hoped growth would be flat in 2013.
Because low or negative growth reduces the amount of money governments receive in taxes, stagnation also threatens to throw countries off their deficit targets.
According to the report, both Greece and Spain won't meet their goal of reducing their deficits to 3 percent by 2014.
In a speech given in Frankfurt, Draghi called on governments to back up the ECB's plans to help countries with their borrowing costs by cutting debt and improving growth through cutting excessive red tape.
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