BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Wednesday Hungary should be given back access to half a billion euros in frozen development aid as a reward for tackling its budget deficit, paving the way for EU finance ministers to end sanctions next month.

Finance chiefs blocked the 495 million euros in EU funds in March to punish Budapest for failing to rein in its deficit in a sustainable manner since it joined the EU in 2004, but a quick resolution would mark a victory for Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – France will miss its deficit goal next year without additional spending cuts and tax reforms, the European Commission said on Wednesday, sending a message to new French President Francois Hollande that his growth agenda faces severe constraints.

Hollande wants to shift Europe’s strategy towards growth and ease the pace of German-led austerity some economists blame for suffocating national economies, but France’s ability to meet its goals is crucial to the euro zone’s credibility with investors.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Support for European integration has fallen sharply across the European Union since the public debt crisis began, but few Europeans want to abandon the euro and stricken Greeks are keenest to keep the common currency, a study showed on Tuesday.

A growing number of Europeans in Britain, France, Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland and Greece say integration has weakened their economies and question whether membership of the European Union is a good thing, according to a report by the non-profit, Washington-based Pew Research Centre.

By Robin Emmott

(Reuters) – EU leaders meet for an informal summit in Brussels on Wednesday where France aims to push a proposal for metalizing European debt, but the heart of discussions will focus on ways to reignite economic growth across the continent.

Below are three of the main ideas being considered that could form the basis of a “growth pact” to compliment a fiscal treaty that aims to enforce stricter debt and deficit rules in the euro zone from January next year:

BRUSSELS, May 16 (Reuters) – Costlier fuel and clothing kept
euro zone inflation well above the European Central Bank’s
target in April, giving policymakers little room to stimulate
growth even though Germany has signalled it may tolerate higher
prices at home.

Consumer price inflation in the 17 countries sharing the
euro was 2.6 percent in April, the EU’s statistics agency
Eurostat said on Wednesday, down from 2.7 percent in March but
still stubbornly high given Europe’s drift towards recession.

BRUSSELS, May 16 (Reuters) – Costlier fuel and clothing kept
euro zone inflation well above the European Central Bank’s
target in April, giving policymakers little room to stimulate
growth even as Germany signals it may be ready to tolerate more
price rises at home.

Consumer price inflation in the 17 countries sharing the
euro was 2.6 percent in April, the EU’s statistics agency
Eurostat said on Wednesday, down from 2.7 percent in March but
still stubbornly high given Europe’s economic slump.

BRUSSELS/BERLIN, May 15 (Reuters) – Germany pulled the euro
zone’s economy back from the brink of recession at the start of
2012 but stagnation in France and contraction in southern Europe
underlined sharply differing fortunes in a bloc labouring under
the effects of austerity.

Overall gross domestic product was unchanged in the first
quarter following a dip at the end of last year, data showed on
Tuesday, meaning that the euro zone missed slipping officially
into recession by the narrowest possible margin.