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The European Commission has presented a comprehensive plan to drive Europe's recovery from the current economic crisis. The Recovery Plan is based on two mutually reinforcing main elements. Firstly, short-term measures to boost demand, save jobs and help restore confidence. Secondly, "smart investment" to yield higher growth and sustainable prosperity in the longer-term. The Plan calls for a timely, targeted and temporary fiscal stimulus of around €200 billion or 1.5% of EU GDP, within both national budgets (around €170 billion, 1.2% of GDP) and EU and European Investment Bank budgets (around €30 billion, 0.3% of GDP). Every Member State is called upon to take major measures good for its own citizens and good for the rest of Europe.

In November, the Economic Sentiment Indicator declined considerably in the EU and the euro area. This came after another sharp decline in sentiment observed in the October survey. It fell by 6.7 points in the EU and by 5.1 points in the euro area, to 70.5 and 74.9, respectively. The ESI for the EU stands at its lowest since January 1985, while that for the euro area is at the lowest since August 1993.

The latest Bloomberg Euro- Zone Retail Purchasing Managers' Index, based on a mid-month survey of economic conditions in the euro area retail sector, slumped from 44.3 in October to 40.6 in November, signaling the sixth consecutive monthly fall in retail sales and the largest decline recorded in the five-year history of the survey.

The annual rate of growth of M3 stood at 8.7% in October 2008, unchanged from the previous month. The three-month average of the annual growth rates of M3 over the period August 2008 - October 2008 declined to 8.7%, from 8.9% in the period July 2008 - September 2008.

In 2007, EU27 external trade in services recorded a surplus of 84.1 billion euro, an increase compared with 68.5 bn in 2006 and 54.1 bn in 2005.

In 2007 there were 14 retail payment systems operating in the euro area, serving a total population of 320 million. In that year these systems processed 25.5 billion transactions, with a total value of €17.2 trillion. This compares with a transaction volume of 24.7 billion at a total value of €16.7 trillion in 2006.

In the sixth progress report on the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) the Governing Council of the ECB welcomed the evident progress made on this project, but emphasised that work urgently remains to be done to ensure the success of SEPA. The sixth progress report also contains a list of "Ten milestones for SEPA implementation and migration".

Europeans are generally satisfied with their quality of life, but levels vary considerably across countries, according to the second European Quality of Life Survey. The survey, carried out by Eurofound, the Dublin-based EU Agency, offers a unique and timely insight into quality of life in Europe, and provides policymakers and other interested groups with information on how individuals assess their quality of life.

In September 2008 the working day and seasonally adjusted current account of the euro area recorded a deficit of EUR 10.6 billion. In the financial account, combined direct and portfolio investment showed net inflows of EUR 39 billion.

The 9-hour negotiation on 21 November between representatives of Parliament and the Council of Ministers delivered an overall deal on the 2009 budget and on the € 1 billion agricultural aid for developing countries, the so called "food facility".