The U.K. economy has stalled, and by the end of next month it will be more or less the same size as it was the same time a year earlier. Bad news for British workers and businesses, and for Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, The Wall Street Journal reported. He now faces some tough calls. At risk is at least one of the two forms of credibility that are needed if he is to repair the government's tattered finances. If he is lucky, he will find a way of saving both. The bold austerity program Mr.

The Italian government moved Tuesday to revamp its embattled austerity package, in a bid to shore up political support for a plan that has drawn a wave of public protest, The Wall Street Journal reported. The government's latest raft of proposals—a mix of tax increases and pension overhauls—aims to cover funding gaps that emerged in Italy's €45.5 billion ($64.15 billion) austerity package after Rome hastily stripped away unpopular parts of the plan.

Greece's finance minister pledged Tuesday to speed up a series of delayed reforms meant to cut flab from the country's bloated public sector without immediate job losses, open up tightly regulated professions to competition and kick-start an ambitious privatization plan, the Associated Press reported. "Greece is not the pariah of the European Union, it is not a permanent sore and problem," Evangelos Venizelos told reporters after a cabinet meeting. "It is an equal, competitive country that has a very serious problem regarding its public debt and fiscal deficit.

The European Banking Authority is considering legally binding rules on bankers’ pay and bonuses, the executive director of the EU-wide banking regulator said in Dublin Monday, the Irish Times reported. Adam Farkas said the authority may issue technical standards creating rules governing remuneration in banking, but this was unlikely before the end of the year. The European Banking Authority was asked by the EU last month to examine pay ratios as part of draft laws on capital and liquidity in the banks, and has until the end of 2013 to do this.

Italy's industry minister has dismissed widespread calls for Rome to speed up its timetable for passing budget-tightening measures, rebutting criticism that the Italian government's austerity package isn't tough enough to dig the country out of the euro-zone debt crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported. In an interview late on Sunday, Paolo Romani said the government was sticking to its plans to push the measures through Parliament by Sept. 15.

Austria's troubled A-TEC Industries has accepted an offer from Contor Industries GmbH that fulfils its deal with creditors to find an outside investor, it said on Monday, Reuters reported. It did not put a value on the deal but said payments resulting from the offers must be made no later than Sept. 30. "The payments shall, together with the funds already deposited with the trustee, enable the fulfillment of the restructuring plan quota," it said in a statement.

A Stirling-based manufacturer of home insulation materials has been forced to restructure its debt after disappointing performance, the BBC reported. Superglass warned it would not be able to service its debt to Clydesdale Bank without a debt-for-equity swap it recently agreed with the lender. According to the trading update for the end of its financial year, debt has increased to £17.7m. Profit expectations are slightly down on the previous trading update in June. The first half of its financial year, to February, saw it break even.

Europe's sovereign debt crisis will stunt bank profit for years and could kill off the weakest, Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Josef Ackermann told industry bosses, amid intense scrutiny of the sector's finances, Reuters reported. "Prospects for the financial sector overall ...

Finland is stepping up efforts to find a compromise with Europe on its collateral demands amid International Monetary Fund opposition to forcing Greece to give euro members extra security for new loans, Bloomberg reported. “We will seek a solution together everyone can agree on and one that doesn’t hurt anyone,” Finland’s Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen told reporters Monday in Helsinki after meeting with European Union President Herman Van Rompuy.

The head of Germany's powerful central bank called Thursday for greater co-ordination of fiscal policies in the eurozone as a response to the debt crisis, which he termed its "most severe ever test." Speaking in Hanover in northern Germany, Jens Weidmann said that any solution to the crisis that has crippled debt-laden states on the periphery of the 17-country zone must tackle the problem at its roots, Agence France-Presse reported.