Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has expressed a strong concern over the nation's rising pressures of debt crisis, which is in turn affecting the stability of the euro zone.

The Prime Minister exclaimed that the country doesn’t need financial aids but solidarity from its European peers.

"Unfortunately, history has fully confirmed our worst fears. Our duty today is to forget about political costs and only think about the survival of our country ... Past policies make it necessary to proceed to brutal changes", he said.

Questions about the pace and sustainability of Europe's largest economy remains unanswered as German business sentiment slipped during the month.

The Euro, after edging back from an intraday high versus the Dollar, remains up 0.3% at $1.3646.

The Ifo Institute has hinted that the country's economic recovery should continue despite the unexpected fall in the confidence among German companies.

LCH. Clearnet, Europe's largest independent clearing house, has reported a net loss for last year due to a fall in exchange trading volumes, highlighting the increasing competitiveness of the post-trade business.

The loss reported by the firm was €91m (£79m), compared with a record profit of €219.8m after tax last year.

According to a Pfizer-sponsored survey, western Europeans spend an estimated 10.5 billion Euros on counterfeit medicines in a year. These medicines contain the wrong or even toxic ingredients that resulted in health threat worldwide, particularly in poor countries, according to the World Health Organization.

The most prescription-only drugs without a prescription are bought by Germans and Italians either by the Internet or on overseas trips, in nightclubs, in shops and via friends. One in five of the 14,000 people surveyed, equating to

A study conducted by the charity Action Aid warns that if the UK and Europe meet targets on increasing renewable fuel, then up to 100 million people in developing countries may go hungry.

European stocks dropped to weekly slump, as European finance chiefs failed to ease concern over deficits in Greece, Portugal and Spain.

National Bank of Greece SA and EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA, the countries' biggest banks, sank more than 3 percent. Aker Solutions ASA tumbled 8.3 percent after missing out on an order. Dexia SA surged 3.3 percent after saying it won't need to sell its Turkish unit or its asset-gathering business to win European Union approval for a taxpayer-funded bailout.

A report from the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee is alarming that the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has not been not successful in delivering required investment in the low carbon technologies.

The report appeals the government to strengthen the investment by initiating a minimum carbon price of €100 per tonne of CO2. Intensified by the recession, presently the carbon prices have disintegrated to €15 per tonne.

Daimler AG made an announcement that the company is appointing Wolfgang Bernhard, head of its van operations, replacing Rainer Schmückle. He became a board member just under a year after his return.

European stocks and the euro experienced a hard hit again Friday as investors' grew jitterier over the heavily-indebted economies in the euro zone. However, Greece was firmly in the spotlight, Spain and Portugal were grabbing attention too.

Alongside Greece and Spain, Portugal is one of a handful of euro bloc countries that encounters massive pressure to get their public finances in order and placate markets which are concerned about the risks of a sovereign default.

Axeon, which is the largest independent lithium-ion battery systems supplier in Europe, will be developing a new high capacity battery for the electric Citroen C1 ev'ie city car. It aims at supplying 300 to 500 batteries in the year that'll follow the battery's successful trial.

A recent study suggests that children who start swimming before the age of two may be at increased risk of a common infant lung infection, and possibly asthma and respiratory allergies later in life.

The findings, issued in the European Respiratory Journal, reveals that exposure to chlorinated pools may affect children's respiratory health by increasing the incidence of asthma, allergic rhinitis and hay-fever in those who are vulnerable to allergies.

The rapid spread of the deadly H1N1 virus managed to fuel concerns about hand hygiene, which in turn has continued to boost the sales of Carex soap, leading to a boom in the profits at PZ Cussons, the consumer products company. The high sales led the company to announce that it would be issuing higher interim dividend.

The group managed to outperform its competitors across Europe, and the success helped it balance the losses it suffered as a result of cut back on lending in Nigeria which hit the sales of air conditioners and refrigerators.

With Europe caught in the crosshairs of conflicting views over President Obama's proposal to curb superfluous banking activities by separating retail banking from proprietary trading, most governments called for an international agreement before they followed suit.

France's Michel Barnier, who is set to oversee the European Union's financial sector, ruled out Britain's concerns that his appointment could jeopardize London's position as Europe's financial hub.

Mr. Barnier said he was committed to reform the European financial sector, but he would not be swayed by France's interests.

Speaking on the topic, Mr. Barnier said, "I'm not going to be taking orders from Paris, London or anywhere else."

Official data released has revealed that the gap between Euro Zone's strong and weak economies managed to widen by the time 2009 came to an end, with Germany's service sector moving rapidly ahead, and Spain's service sector, on the other hand, shrinking even further.

The data released on Wednesday has managed to create much concern for the European Central Bank.

As confirmed by Markit figures, the final purchasing Managers index for the 16 nation Euro Zone's services sector managed to rise to 53.6 in the month for December, from November's reading of