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The world economy is being buffeted by several shocks. The United Kingdom, like most OECD economies, is in a deep recession. House prices are falling after an extended period of large increases which left many households over-extended. Financial conditions are tight, and the financial market crisis has threatened the stability of the financial system. External conditions are also highly unfavourable. The recovery is likely to be slow and unemployment is expected to climb significantly. Both monetary and fiscal policies have eased to cushion the severe downturn with the policy rate now at historically low levels and quantitative easing measures under way. The authorities have also moved quickly to introduce a wide range of measures to stabilise the financial system.

In June, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) for the EU and the euro area continued to improve for the third month in a row. However, in both areas, the level is still below the lows reached in the previous trough at the end of 1992. The ESI increased by 3.2 points in the EU and by 3.1 points in the euro area, to 71.1 and 73.3 respectively.

The euro-area economy is still deep in recession territory but the EU's strong and coordinated policy response is providing tangible support to economic activity and sentiment indicators and financial markets have started to send some tentative signs of improvement, the Quarterly Report on the Euro Area shows.

Euro area retail business conditions continued to deteriorate in June, with sales, employment, purchasing of stock and margins all falling compared with May. The Bloomberg Euro-Zone Retail Purchasing Managers' Index ("PMI(R)"), based on a mid-month survey of more than 1,000 executives in the euro area retail sector that provides data one month ahead of government-issued figures, rose from 47.1 to 47.5 in June. Remaining below 50.0, the seasonally adjusted index pointed to a month-on-month fall in sales for the thirteenth successive month. The rate of contraction eased on May, and has recovered sharply from the record pace of decline seen last November. In fact, the average monthly decline over Q2 was the weakest since Q1 2008.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index™ (LEI) for the Euro Area increased 1.9 percent in May to 95.4 (2004 = 100), following a 1.6 percent increase in April and no change in March. All of the components made positive contributions to the index this month.

Concerns about the economy and personal finances have workers rethinking holiday plans, according to a recent survey by CareerBuilder. Thirty-six percent of employed workers in Europe reported they are not planning to take a holiday in 2009, similar to findings reported by U.S. workers in a separate survey. Of those not planning to take a holiday, 41 percent of European workers said they simply can't afford it while another 10 percent are worried about taking days away from the office in an economy where so many jobs have been lost.

What proportion of the EU27 population live in houses or flats, and what proportion own their dwelling? What kind of energy do households consume? What share of consumers makes formal complaints to sellers? What share of the population cross borders to do their shopping?

President Barroso and Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs have welcomed adoption of new rules on the internal energy market by the Council following a positive vote by the European Parliament in April. The new legislation is expected to strengthen the EU's internal energy market, give consumers more protection and the benefit of the lowest possible energy prices while offering companies the chance to compete on a level playing field.

During the first four months of 2009, new car registrations dropped by 15.1% in Western Europe - and by 21.4% in the 10 new EU Member States.

Based on first preliminary estimates for 2008, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per inhabitant expressed in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) varied from 40% to 253% of the EU27 average across the Member States.