Germany is considering a plan with its European Union partners to offer Greece and other troubled euro-zone members loan guarantees in an effort to calm fears of a government default and prevent a widening of the credit woes, people familiar with the matter said, The Wall Street Journal reported. EU leaders are expected to discuss the situation at summit in Brussels on Thursday.

The European Union is in need of a new economic strategy, The Wall Street Journal reported. The veracity of that statement might seem indisputable, as various EU countries, led by Greece, struggle to avoid being crushed by their accumulated debts. But in the surreal bureaucratic thinking of the EU, the reason it needs a new economic strategy has as much to do with the fact that its previous one is nearing its expiry date as any desperate need to deal with the current crisis. In March 2000, the EU set out its strategy for the next decade. It wasn't unambitious.

General Motors Europe on Tuesday finally announced the details of its plan to restructure German car-maker Opel. In addition to thousands of job cuts, GM wants €2.7 billion from European governments. Opposition to the plan is building in Germany, Spiegel Online reported. GM is asking for €2.7 billion ($3.7 billion) in loans or loan guarantees from countries where Opel factories are located. Germany would be responsible for coming up with €1.5 billion of that amount, with half coming from the federal government in Berlin and the remaining amount being coughed up by the German states concerned.

The problems facing Greece are just the beginning, Spiegel Online reported. The countries belonging to Europe's common currency zone are drifting further and further apart, and national bankruptcies are a distinct possibility. Brussels is faced with a number of choices, none of them good. Accruing debt is becoming increasingly expensive for other countries in the euro zone as well, among them Portugal and Spain. The southern members of the euro zone are especially being eyed with mistrust.

Outgoing EU economics commissioner Joaquin Almunia has warned that Greece will have to adopt new austerity measures if it fails to meet targets set out in an already tough emergency budget, The Irish Times reported. Mr Almunia said the budget programme was achievable but prone to risk. By mid-March, Greece will have to submit its first special report to Brussels on the implementation of the measures, with a follow-up due in mid-May.

Are EU policy makers willing to let Greece suffer a little? The Source asked. Absolutely. Greece is paying about 3.5 percentage points over benchmark rates in order to borrow, which is a hefty tax on the country’s already strained public finances. But EU officials in Brussels note that a bailout might encourage “moral hazard,” allowing yet another Greek government to skirt much-needed reforms. The bloc’s finance ministers and bureaucrats justifiably feel duped.

Greece rejected speculation that it will need a bailout to tackle the European Union’s biggest budget deficit as officials fly in from Brussels to scrutinize tax and spending plans. “We don’t expect to be bailed out by anybody as, I think, is perfectly clear we’re doing what needs to be done to bring the deficit down and control the public debt,” Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today.

Europe’s leading healthcare companies have complained to Brussels over the non-payment of debts on drugs and other medical products they say total almost €7 billion by the Greek public health system, the Financial Times reported. The moves come as Greece struggles to raise funds on international markets to finance its swollen budget deficit and public debt in the face of credit rating downgrades.

Ukraine has made an urgent appeal to the International Monetary Fund for about $2 billion in emergency loans to ease “an extremely difficult situation” in meeting its external obligations and avoid the danger of a “spill-over effect” on other economically vulnerable states, the Financial Times reported. “The next three months are crucial,” said Hryhoriy Nemyria, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister. Mr Nemyria’s warning seems aimed at putting public pressure on the IMF, the US and the European Union at a difficult time in financial markets.

The Airbus military transport plane A400M took off for its maiden flight on Friday in Seville, Spain. But the project is now €5 billion over budget and EADS would like European governments to help cover the shortfall, Spiegel Online reported. Airbus parent EADS is hoping that the governments of seven European countries, which have ordered 180 of the gigantic, military transport aircrafts, will agree to renegotiate the original contract -- one which placed the burden of budget overruns squarely on the shoulders of Airbus.