Growth outlook raised - unemployment and public accounts to improve further as growth stays solid

The economic prospects look even brighter than six months ago: the European Commission lifts its forecast for economic growth in the European Union to 2.9% in 2007.

Growth expected to remain buoyant

Despite high oil price and a slowdown of the US economy, growth is expected to remain buoyant, both in the euro area and the European Union as a whole. For the thirteen countries of the euro area, growth predictions are 2.6% for 2007 – slightly lower than for the EU but still 1/2 percentage point higher than envisaged in the Commission's autumn forecast.