Official figures show that economic growth in the euro zone slowed to a lower than expected 0.3% in the second quarter, compared with 0.7% in the previous three months. The annual rate also slowed from 3.1% to 2.5%.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has lowered its predictions for euro zone growth slightly in new estimates published this morning.
The body now expects 0.3-0.8% growth in the third quarter of 2007 and 0.2-0.8% in the final quarter.
Last month the Commission forecast 0.4-0.8% growth for the third quarter and 0.3-0.8% for the fourth quarter.
