EU reaches political deal on seven-year budget

A political deal on the EU's hotly contested seven-year budget has been struck, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has announced.

Europe austerity debate to test periphery political will in Ireland

DUBLIN: Readers of Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper were confronted by an unexpected front page headline this week when the Irish Independent proclaimed the 'End Of Austerity'.

EU not ready for sanctions against Hezbollah: EU's Barroso

(Reuters) - The European Union will consider imposing sanctions on the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah but does not yet have sufficient evidence of its activities in Europe to make a decision, the European Commission said on Thursday.

Brussels, Berlin tell Europe to stick to austerity

BRUSSELS (AP) — Germany and the European Commission on Tuesday called on EU nations to stick to their promised budget cuts despite mounting voter discontent, but promised some new efforts to boost growth to alleviate economic hardship.