BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU finance ministers will lift financial sanctions on Hungary on Friday, two EU diplomats said, restoring Budapest’s access to half a billion euros of frozen funds and rewarding Prime Minister Viktor Orban for dealing with budget shortfalls.

Finance chiefs in March blocked 495 million euros ($625 million) in EU funds from 2013, to send a message to Budapest and other fiscally profligate nations that consistently high budget deficits were unacceptable in the European Union.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The number of people in work in the euro zone fell again in the first three months of this year while imports of goods slid, highlighting the bloc’s troubled economy that is increasingly reliant on exports to prevent an even deeper slump.

Employment in the 17 nations sharing the euro fell 0.2 percent in the first quarter from the fourth, marking the third straight quarter of falling job rates as the devastating impact of the bloc’s debt crisis is felt in European households.

BRUSSELS, June 14 (Reuters) – Euro zone inflation hit a
15-month low in May as fuel and transport costs fell, giving the
European Central Bank leeway to cut interest rates, though that
alone would do little to revive the region’s stuttering economy.

The ECB left rates at 1 percent last week and its president
says the onus is on the region’s governments to take concerted
action to boost confidence and competitiveness in a region where
separate figures on Thursday showed labour costs continued to
outpace economic growth.

BRUSSELS, June 14 (Reuters) – Cheaper fuel and transport
brought euro zone inflation to its lowest level in 15 months in
May, but the pace of change from April was slower than expected,
leaving the European Central Bank to decide the merits of a rate
cut as the economy slumps.

The ECB left interest rates at 1 percent last week and the
bank’s president says it is up to European governments to do
more to save the bloc’s deteriorating economy.

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) – China needs to soften onerous requirements on European companies investing in its economy before Brussels and Beijing can start talks on a pact to unleash billions of euros of fresh investment flows, the EU’s top trade official said on Thursday.

A wave of Chinese direct investment could bring $250 billion to $500 billion in fresh capital to Europe this decade, according to a new report, and European companies are eager to expand in fast-growing Asia.

BRUSSELS/MADRID, June 6 (Reuters) – Spain has no immediate
plans to request a European bailout of its banks and is awaiting
the results of an independent banking audit due later this month
before any further steps are taken, Economy Minister Luis de
Guindos said on Wednesday.

Multiple EU sources say, however, that Spain, Germany and
European Union policymakers are in intense discussions over how
to help Madrid recapitalise its troubled banks after a series of
reforms failed to convince on the stability of the country’s
financial system.

BRUSSELS/MADRID (Reuters) – Spain has no immediate plans to request a European bailout of its banks and is awaiting the results of an independent banking audit due later this month before any further steps are taken, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said on Wednesday.

Multiple EU sources say, however, that Spain, Germany and European Union policymakers are in intense discussions over how to help Madrid recapitalize its troubled banks after a series of reforms failed to convince on the stability of the country’s financial system.

BRUSSELS, June 6 (Reuters) – Political and business
corruption in Europe, especially in the Mediterranean, could
further weaken vulnerable economies struggling to overcome the
euro crisis, an international watchdog said on Wednesday.

While it sees itself as one of the world’s least corrupt
regions, few countries in Europe regulate lobbying or give
citizens easy access to public information, allowing a culture
of graft to take hold and political and business elites to
divert funds, Transparency International said in a report.