Europe is likely in recession, EC says

The European Commission today said that the European Union countries probably are in the midst of a recession and that the outlook for 2009 growth is dim. The Brussels, Belgium-based EC said that the economy in the euro zone — the15 countries that use the euro as their currency — will grow just 0.1% next year. Economic growth for the European Union, which includes the euro zone as well as countries that don’t use the euro, is expected to be 1.4% this year, half what it was in 2007, according to the EC’s report. The EU’s economic growth will stagnate next year to 0.2% and improve slightly in 2010 to 1.1%, the EC said. “The economic horizon has now significantly darkened as the European Union economy is hit by the financial crisis that deepened during the autumn and is taking a toll on business and consumer confidence,” Joaquín Almunia, the EC’s economic and monetary affairs commissioner, said in a statement. “We need a coordinated action at the EU level to support the economy.”