ANTWERP, Belgium (Reuters) – Belgium is building the world’s largest lock – as wide as a 19-lane highway – ready to welcome the latest generation of giant ships after Europe’s brace of new trade deals.

EU lawmakers approved free-trade accords with Colombia, Peru and six Central American nations in December and also wrapped up trade talks with Singapore. A deal with Canada is expected to be finalised early this year and a more limited investment pact with China is a possibility.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Public debt levels in the euro zone neared their projected peak last year after more than a decade of huge borrowing, but data also highlighted a divide between the richer north and Mediterranean countries where the burden is still growing.

Government debt stabilized at 90 percent of economic output in the 17 nations sharing the euro in the third quarter, barely changed from 89.9 percent in the second, the EU’s statistics office Eurostat said on Wednesday.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Germany, France and nine other euro zone countries got a go-ahead on Tuesday to implement a tax on trading, despite the reservations of financial centers such as London and Luxembourg that are worried it could drive business out of Europe.

EU finance ministers gave their approval at a meeting in Brussels, allowing 11 states to pursue a financial transactions tax. The 11 are: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Portugal, Belgium, Estonia, Greece, Slovakia and Slovenia.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Germany, France and nine other euro zone countries will get the go-ahead on Tuesday to start work on a financial transactions tax, a measure likely to unsettle banks and trading houses but which will please voters and could raise much-needed revenue.

European Union finance ministers are expected to give their approval at a meeting in Brussels, allowing 11 states – Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Portugal, Belgium, Estonia, Greece, Slovakia and Slovenia – to start preparations for imposing a tax on all financial market transactions.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – It started as an informal dinner among European finance ministers more than 14 years ago and has steadily gained prominence under its veteran president, Jean-Claude Juncker.

But on Monday the grey-haired Juncker, 58, handed the reins of the Eurogroup to a polished 46-year-old Dutchman, promising a new approach to how economic policy among the 17 euro zone countries is shaped and decided.

BRUSSELS/LONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Momentum for a trade
deal between the United States and European Union is a challenge
to Britons who say London is better off without Brussels and
hands Prime Minister David Cameron a strong argument to resist
their pressure.

Cameron planned to outline plans to dilute Britain’s EU
membership on Friday in Amsterdam in one of the most anticipated
speeches on Europe by a British leader since World War Two.

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) – Momentum for a trade deal between the United States and European Union is a challenge to Britons who say London is better off without Brussels and hands Prime Minister David Cameron a strong argument to resist their pressure.

Cameron will outline plans to dilute Britain’s EU membership on Friday in Amsterdam in one of the most anticipated speeches on Europe by a British leader since World War Two. Diplomats in Brussels and business leaders in the UK fear he could set off a process that ends with Britain quitting the Union.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europeans’ appetite for turkeys and Christmas getaways pushed up the cost of living in the euro zone in December, but the European Central Bank expects the rate of inflation to cool this year and offer some relief to households during the recession.

Annual consumer inflation in the 17 countries sharing the euro was 2.2 percent in December, the same level as in November, the EU’s statistics office Eurostat said on Wednesday, confirming its initial reading released earlier this month.

BRUSSELS, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Output at euro zone factories
fell for the third straight month in November and against
expectations of a rise, but Monday’s data included some evidence
to back hopes that the bloc’s recession may now have bottomed.

Industrial production in the 17 countries sharing the euro
fell 0.3 percent in November from the previous month, continuing
its fall since the European summer, the EU’s statistics office
Eurostat said.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Output at euro zone factories fell for the third straight month in November and against expectations of a rise, but Monday’s data included some evidence to back hopes that the bloc’s recession may now have bottomed.

Industrial production in the 17 countries sharing the euro fell 0.3 percent in November from the previous month, continuing its fall since the European summer, the EU’s statistics office Eurostat said.