The European Commission will next month lower its euro zone growth projections, but Europe is not facing a recession, Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said today.
The EU's economy is 'not completely immune' to any downturn in the US, but 'nobody is speaking about a recession in Europe,' he told a conference in Brussels.
He conceded that there is turbulence in the financial markets and that investor confidence has been hit, but insisted that in Europe 'there is no need to rush for the life boats'.
Barroso was speaking before attending a meeting in London with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and outgoing Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi for talks on global financial turmoil and efforts to detect and prevent a repetition.
Barroso said the EU was better placed to weather the current crisis than it had been in the past. Nevertheless he called on companies to disclose any losses as a result of the market turmoil as promptly and fully as possible.
He said he would argue that the EU should avoid 'any kind of artificial stimulus' in response to the crisis and should stick to current policies.
