BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Investors are returning to Italy, allowing it to comfortably service its large debt and avoid seeking help from the euro zone’s bailout fund, the head of the country’s debt agency said on Friday.

The European Commission warned this week that Italy’s public debt would rise to 128 percent of economic output next year, second only to stricken Greece in Europe, while Rome’s efforts to bring down the budget deficit could stagnate in 2014.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The Bank of England is unlikely to move quickly from a very loose to a tight monetary policy, and any further bond buying by the Bank would not risk hurting liquidity, Britain’s debt chief said on Friday.

The Bank opted on Thursday not to pump more cash into the economy.

But the markets expect it to print more money in early 2013 and revive its government bond-buying programme. <BOE/INT>

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union launched an investigation on Thursday into alleged state subsidies for Chinese solar panel manufacturers, intensifying the conflict over the multi-billion dollar solar power equipment market that is straining trade ties.

The EU’s executive body is already investigating allegations of Chinese manufacturers “dumping” solar panels in overseas markets, meaning deliberately selling products for less abroad than at home or at less than cost.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s re-election opens the way for the United States and Europe to launch trade talks early next year, the EU’s trade chief said on Wednesday.

The world’s largest trading relationship already accounts for nearly a third of global trade, but weak growth prospects are pushing Brussels and Washington to consider a deal to reduce barriers to companies and unleash new sales and investments.

BRUSSELS, Nov 7 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s
re-election opens the way for the United States and Europe to
launch trade talks early next year, the EU’s trade chief said on
Wednesday.

The world’s largest trading relationship already accounts
for nearly a third of global trade, but weak growth prospects
are pushing Brussels and Washington to consider a deal to reduce
barriers to companies and unleash new sales and investments.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union will not back down from protecting its industries against Chinese competition it sees as unfair, but mutual self-interest will prevent a damaging trade war, the EU’s trade chief Karel De Gucht said.

Disputes with Beijing have taken on a bigger scale in recent months and Brussels brought its biggest ever trade case against Beijing in September after European companies accused China of dumping solar panels in Europe.

BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Europe and the United States are set to launch trade talks early next year to deepen the world’s largest trading relationship, EU and U.S. officials say, potentially unleashing billions of euros of new transatlantic business.

Together, the bloc and the United States account for about half the world’s economic output and nearly a third of world trade. But a debt crisis in Europe and elusive American growth are pushing both sides to consider knocking down the final barriers to trade.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe’s indebted Mediterranean region has begun to show signs of competitiveness by boosting exports, contributing to a strong euro zone trade surplus in the first eight months of this year.

Eurostat released the trade data on Tuesday separately from figures showing euro zone September inflation stayed stubbornly high at 2.6 percent on an annual basis, with clothing, energy and food prices rising despite the bloc’s shrinking economy.

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – Walter Radermacher wanted to be invisible, and working in his unremarkable office above a suburban shopping center in Luxembourg, the European Union’s statistics chief nearly was.

But everything changed for Radermacher one October afternoon three years ago, when he received an alarming letter from Athens the day before his Eurostat statistics agency was scheduled to publish data on the state of Europe’s accounts.

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – The euro zone believes Spain’s budget cuts should take account of its recession, its economy minister said, as regional policymakers debated whether to let the country slacken the pace of its austerity drive.

The International Monetary Fund said late on Monday that Spain will miss the 2012 and 2013 deficit targets that it agreed with the European Union as the economy will contract far more next year than the country has forecast.