ATHENS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union warned Greek lawmakers on Tuesday their country faced immediate default unless they approve a hated austerity plan, as strikers began new mass protests against the EU/IMF-imposed measures.

With the Greek parliament debating a raft of spending cuts, tax rises and privatizations, the EU’s top economic official, Olli Rehn, dismissed reports that Brussels was working on fallback options to keep Greece afloat if the plan was rejected.

“The only way to avoid immediate default is for parliament to endorse the revised economic program … They must be approved if the next tranche of financial assistance is to be released,” he said in a statement.

“To those who speculate about other options, let me say this clearly: there is no Plan B to avoid default,” Rehn said.

The blunt alternative was underscored by Bank of England Governor Mervyn King, who told British parliamentarians that policymakers were working on ways to limit the damage from a potential default on Greece’s 340 billion euro debt pile.

“What we’re doing is to say there is sufficient concern in the market about the possibility of default for us to think about contingency plans and the consequences of this event,” he said.

He urged greater transparency about sovereign exposures to prevent a sudden, broad-based loss of confidence in European banks in the event of a Greek default, which could trigger a new credit crunch.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Turkey came from behind to draw 1-1 with Belgium Friday, a result that leaves the visitors best placed to secure second spot behind runaway leaders Germany in Euro 2012 Group A qualifying.

Belgium maintained their one-point cushion over Turkey but wasted a great chance when Axel Witsel missed a penalty with 15 minutes left.

Turkey, coached by Chelsea target Guus Hiddink, have a game in hand on the Belgians in the chase for a playoff spot. Germany lead the way with 18 points from six matches.

Hiddink described it as “a very good result.”

“We can be satisfied with a draw,” the Dutchman told reporters. “We started very sloppily … it was a stupid foul (by Arda Turan) to give away the penalty and we were lucky they missed it.

“I don’t think the team would have had the power to overcome it,” added Hiddink before deflecting away a series of questions about his future.

Belgium opened the scoring after four minutes, Marvin Ogunjimi grabbing his fourth goal in six matches as he profited from a slip by Turkey left back Caglar Birinci.

BRUSSELS, June 3 (Reuters) – Turkey came from behind to draw 1-1 with Belgium on Friday, a result that leaves the visitors best placed to secure second spot behind runaway leaders Germany in Euro 2012 Group A qualifying.

Belgium maintained their one-point cushion over Turkey but wasted a great chance when Axel Witsel missed a penalty with 15 minutes left.

Turkey, coached by Chelsea target Guus Hiddink, have a game in hand on the Belgians in the chase for a playoff spot. Germany lead the way with 18 points from six matches.

Hiddink described it as “a very good result”.

“We can be satisfied with a draw,” the Dutchman told reporters. “We started very sloppily … it was a stupid foul (by Arda Turan) to give away the penalty and we were lucky they missed it.

“I don’t think the team would have had the power to overcome it,” added Hiddink before deflecting away a series of questions about his future.

Belgium opened the scoring after four minutes, Marvin Ogunjimi grabbing his fourth goal in six matches as he profited from a slip by Turkey left back Caglar Birinci.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Coach Guus Hiddink, strongly linked in the media with the vacant job at English club Chelsea, said he and his Turkey squad were thinking of nothing but Friday’s Euro 2012 qualifier in Belgium.

The Group A match is likely to determine who finishes second because Germany, with 15 points from five games, are favourites to top the table.

Belgium are second with 10 points from six games and Turkey (nine points from five) occupy third spot, with both teams scrapping it out for a likely playoff berth.

“Me and my team, we think of nothing but the Belgium game right now,” Dutchman Hiddink said in an interview with the Hurriyet newspaper. “This is a key game.

“Nobody has knocked on my door yet, there is nothing concrete to discuss. My contract with the Turkish football federation is until 2012.

“It’s not that easy to just leave and go away. Neither me, nor the football federation, has received any official offers.” Both sides are without key midfielders — Hamit Altintop and Nuri Sahin for Turkey and Marouane Fellaini for Belgium.

Belgium coach Georges Leekens said his players should not be too concerned if they fall behind.

BRUSSELS, June 1 (Reuters) – Coach Guus Hiddink, strongly linked in the media with the vacant job at English club Chelsea, said he and his Turkey squad were thinking of nothing but Friday’s Euro 2012 qualifier in Belgium.

The Group A match is likely to determine who finishes second because Germany, with 15 points from five games, are favourites to top the table.

Belgium are second with 10 points from six games and Turkey (nine points from five) occupy third spot, with both teams scrapping it out for a likely playoff berth.

“Me and my team, we think of nothing but the Belgium game right now,” Dutchman Hiddink said in an interview with the Hurriyet newspaper. “This is a key game.

“Nobody has knocked on my door yet, there is nothing concrete to discuss. My contract with the Turkish football federation is until 2012.

“It’s not that easy to just leave and go away. Neither me, nor the football federation, has received any official offers.” Both sides are without key midfielders — Hamit Altintop and Nuri Sahin for Turkey and Marouane Fellaini for Belgium.

Belgium coach Georges Leekens said his players should not be too concerned if they fall behind.

BRUSSELS, June 1 (Reuters) – Coach Guus Hiddink, strongly linked in the media with the vacant job at English club Chelsea, said he and his Turkey squad were thinking of nothing but Friday’s Euro 2012 qualifier in Belgium.

The Group A match is likely to determine who finishes second because Germany, with 15 points from five games, are favourites to top the table.

Belgium are second with 10 points from six games and Turkey (nine points from five) occupy third spot, with both teams scrapping it out for a likely playoff berth.

“Me and my team, we think of nothing but the Belgium game right now,” Dutchman Hiddink said in an interview with the Hurriyet newspaper. “This is a key game.

“Nobody has knocked on my door yet, there is nothing concrete to discuss. My contract with the Turkish football federation is until 2012.

“It’s not that easy to just leave and go away. Neither me, nor the football federation, has received any official offers.” Both sides are without key midfielders — Hamit Altintop and Nuri Sahin for Turkey and Marouane Fellaini for Belgium.

Belgium coach Georges Leekens said his players should not be too concerned if they fall behind.

LONDON/BRUSSELS, June 1 (Reuters) – The European Investment Bank has frozen all new loans to commodities trader Glencore (GLEN.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and its subsidiaries, it said in a statement on Wednesday, citing “serious concerns” over the group’s corporate governance.

The EIB, the European Union’s lending institution, provided in 2005 a $50 million loan to Mopani Copper Mines, a Zambian subsidiary of Swiss-based Glencore, to help pay for the modernisation of a copper smelter.

But Mopani has since been accused by some non-governmental organisations — most recently by campaign groups in an open letter signed by a group of European parliamentarians — of tax evasion and of causing widespread pollution.

Glencore has denied the allegations, which stem from a leaked version of a pilot audit report commissioned by the Zambian tax authorities. The EIB has commissioned its own independent probe into the matter.

“We welcome the EIB taking a close look at Mopani, since we are confident that we will be completely exonerated,” a spokesman for Glencore said on Wednesday.

“The allegations are based on an incomplete, draft desktop study that was circulated in Zambia several months ago. We publicly refuted the draft conclusions of this document at the time.”

But the EIB said in its statement its concerns went “far beyond” Mopani, repeating comments made in a letter to a group of parliamentarians who had called for EU financing for mining projects in Africa to be suspended.

BRUSSELS, May 27 (Reuters) – Bailed out Franco-Belgian financial group Dexia SA (DEXI.BR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will speed up its divestment of assets and take a 3.6 billion euro ($5.1 billion) hit in the second quarter in a move geared to appeasing EU regulators.

Dexia said in a statement its board had approved the acceleration of its sale programme, which would also see it exit certain guarantees from Belgium and France.

The partly state-owned group, which received 6 billion euros ($8.4 billion) from France and Belgium at the height of the financial crisis, has agreed with the European Commission to divest some businesses and to reduce its balance sheet.

Belgian and French media had reported that Dexia was under pressure from the European Commission to speed up the sale of non-core assets.

Chief Executive Pierre Mariani told a conference call that the Commission had been informed, but it was not bowing to demands from regulators.

Dexia, whose shares had been suspended ahead of the announcement, said it would achieve a Tier 1 solvency ratio of more than 11 percent at the end of June and above 12 percent by the end of 2011.

Dexia, a large lender to municipalities in France and Belgium, received a 6 billion euro bailout from France, Belgium and key shareholders in September 2008 and later won state guarantees for its new borrowings.

NEW YORK/BRUSSELS, May 23 (Reuters) – Fitch became the second ratings agency to threaten Belgium with a credit downgrade on Monday, saying a lack of government undermined budget efforts in one of the euro zone’s most indebted states.

Fitch affirmed its AA+ rating for Belgian government debt, but said its outlook was now negative rather than stable, mirroring Standard & Poor’s warning from last December. [ID:nLDE6BD17S]

“The negative outlook reflects Fitch’s concerns over the pace of structural reform in the coming years and the ability to accelerate fiscal consolidation without a resolution to the constitutional crisis,” Douglas Renwick, a director in Fitch’s sovereign group said in a statement.

Fitch’s warning means that, without effective action in Belgium, it is more likely than not to cut Belgium’s credit rating within one to two years.

Financial markets were already unsettled on Monday [ID:nLDE74M0V7] after S&P cut its outlook on Italy to negative [ID:nLDE74L0K5] and Spain’s ruling Socialists were wiped out in weekend regional and municipal elections. [ID:nLDE74M02A]

Belgium sold 3.4 billion euros of bonds with relative ease on Monday [ID:nLDE74M0Z8] and Fitch said it still had many characteristics of a stronger ‘core’ euro zone member. However, its high debt and lack of government were causes for concern.

HIGH DEBT, CARETAKER GOVERNMENT

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe’s steel industry should avoid a repeat of the margin squeeze that struck in the second half of last year and high raw material costs should subside over the medium term, the head of Voestalpine said.

The steel industry in Europe and the United States has seen a rebound from a weak second half of 2010, with ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, earlier this month predicting a post-crisis high for profits in the second quarter.

However, there are concerns that a further rise in costs and a recent dip in steel prices since the end of March could spell a reversal, with lower Chinese steel prices starting to feed through to the developed world.

But Voestalpine’s chief executive Wolfgang Eder said the influence in Europe of the Chinese market was not as close as many people thought, imports were lower than before, inventories were not bloated and some customers, notably in the auto sector, were planning to run at full steam through much of the summer.

“The Chinese steel industry has learned during the crisis that it does not make sense to do significant exports to Europe because they are destroying their margins,” Eder told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference of European steel body EUROFER, of which he is the president.

The cost of transporting steel to Europe from China was more than 10 percent of the price of the product in an industry with operating margins typically around 5 percent, he said.

Eder said imports into Europe from China and India were roughly 50 percent of pre-crisis levels and they had not surged when prices in the continent increased.