BRUSSELS, July 19 (Reuters) – The highest EU court has
cleared a Chinese chemicals company of accusations that Beijing
was controlling its trade with Europe, in a victory for private
Chinese firms who say they are unfairly labelled as subsidised
agents of the Chinese government.

The lower General Court in Luxembourg ruled in 2009 that
China’s Zhejiang Xinan Chemical Industrial Group was
not guilty of dumping – selling for unrealistic prices -
chemicals on European markets.

BRUSSELS, July 18 (Reuters) – The European Union’s trade
chief pushed Europe on Wednesday towards an ambitious trade deal
with Japan despite opposition from carmakers, saying the
region’s auto industry could not make trade a scapegoat for its
falling sales.

The European Union is trying to sign free-trade deals across
the globe to lock in access to fast-growing economies after
years of failure to seal the 10-year old Doha round of global
trade talks.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s trade chief called on Europe on Wednesday to start talks on an ambitious trade deal with Japan despite opposition from carmakers, saying that overlooking one of the world’s biggest economies would be a “serious mistake”.

The European Union is in a race with the United States to sign dozens of free-trade deals across the globe and lock in access to fast-growing economies, especially in Asia, as the 10-year Doha round of global trade talks are deadlocked.

BRUSSELS, July 17 (Reuters) – Euro zone countries need to
build a deeper economic union, diluting national polices in
favour of centralised powers to intervene in national budgets
and prevent countries issuing too much debt, a European Central
bank ratesetter said.

Euro zone leaders hope a commitment to deeper integration,
even if it is a decade-long project, will reassure investors who
are worried about a break-up of the single currency zone that
the euro is here to stay.

BRUSSELS, July 16 (Reuters) – The European Union should go
ahead with talks on a potentially groundbreaking free-trade deal
with Japan despite opposition from carmakers, the European
Commission will say on Wednesday, in an effort to revive
Europe’s stagnant economy.

With the 10-year-old Doha round of global trade talks
deadlocked, the European Union is in a race with the United
States to sign as many free-trade deals as it can and lock in
access to fast-growing economies, especially in Asia.

BRUSSELS, July 14 (Reuters) – It is too early to say how
Greece will meet its financing needs and discussions can only
begin once a lenders’ mission returns to Athens, two EU
officials said on Saturday, but a senior policymaker has said
there was no cause for concern.

Prior to Greece’s elections, the previous government said
its cash reserves would be exhausted by the end of July, and a
report on Saturday suggested the European Central Bank could
consider allowing Greece to delay a bond payment in August.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Euro zone factories unexpectedly stepped up production in May, but output fell in France and the Netherlands in a further sign that the bloc’s sovereign debt crisis is also hurting its stronger economies.

Industrial production in the 17 countries sharing the euro rose 0.6 percent in May from April, the EU’s statistics office Eurostat said on Thursday, beating expectations of economists polled by Reuters, who had forecast no growth in the month.

BRUSSELS/BERLIN, July 10 (Reuters) – A euro zone bailout for
Spain’s crippled banks paves the way to clean up the financial
sector within 18 months and will also put the economy on a path
to recovery, Spain said on Tuesday.

Euro zone finance ministers agreed on Monday a rescue
package of up to 100 billion euros ($123 billion) for Spanish
banks devastated by a burst housing bubble.