EU maakt zich zorgen over dreigende recessie VS (en)
EU finance ministers will today (22 January) debate the latest trends on the world markets, with eurozone chief Jean-Claude Juncker referring to the possibility of economic recession in the US and its negative impact on Europe's economy.
The meeting takes place amid the biggest plunge of global stock markets since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. On Monday, London's FTSE 100 index tumbled 5.5 percent, while indexes in Paris and Frankfurt dropped by about 7 percent.
Similarly, share prices in Asia and Australasia continued to fall sharply on Tuesday, with the same development expected on the US bond markets.
Economists say these trends reflect investors' distrust of US president George W. Bush's plan, presented last week, to boost the American economy and its potential to avoid a full-blown recession.
As the state of the US economy is crucial for Europe's own performance - with most of its exports heading across the Atlantic - gloomy reports on the latest developments are also sparking increasing concerns among the bloc's economic chiefs.
"In recent months, we have always ruled out a recession in the United States, but we cannot totally rule it out today," said Mr Juncker on Monday (21 January), following a meeting of the 15-strong eurozone ministerial group which he chairs.
"If there is a real slowdown in the US, obviously that would be felt in the euro zone'' he admitted while repeating the same reassuring message about the "solid fundamentals" of Europe's economy.
"It would be a mistake to fall victim to excessive pessimism," he warned. "We shouldn't overreact to events on the stock exchange."
"We feel comfortable with our economic situation at the moment and we feel that consumers do not have a reason to lose confidence," he added.
Last year, the European Commission revised its economic forecasts for the eurozone and the EU's economy downwards due to the global consequences of the US credit crisis in the second half of 2007.
Leaders of the UK, Germany, France and Italy are due to discuss their response to the global market turmoil next week (29 January) in London, ahead of the G8 gathering in Japan of the world's richest countries.
But Mr Juncker played down the significance of the meeting, suggesting "Having talked to some of the participants I can assure you that they [the four countries' leaders] will take no kind of decision."