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In May 2010 most of the average MFI interest rates on new deposits remained basically unchanged, while most of the average MFI interest rates on new loans further declined. The majority of average MFI interest rates on outstanding amounts of deposits and loans remained basically unchanged.

The annual rate of change of M3 stood at -0.2% in May 2010, unchanged from the previous month. The three-month average of the annual rates of change of M3 over the period March 2010 - May 2010 stood at -0.2%, unchanged from the previous period.

Given the economic circumstances in the European Union during 2009, maintaining jobs and avoiding redundancies were to the fore in social partner discussions and actions across Europe in 2009, according to the new annual review of industrial relations developments in the EU from Eurofound's European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO). For the EU as a whole, despite the general decline in nominal pay increases in 2009, continuing a trend of wage moderation since 2008, the steep fall in inflation resulted in real pay increases in all countries bar Malta. While the inflation rate fell sharply, from 3,7% in 2008 to 1% in 2009, average real pay rose by 2,9%, compared to 0,5% in 2008.

The Communication approved by the Commission builds on the principles presented on 12 May to reinforce the economic governance in the European Union. It presents a set of tools to effectively strengthen the preventive and the corrective arms of the Stability and Growth Pact, extend surveillance to macro-economic imbalances and enforce effectively economic surveillance through appropriate sanctions and incentives. The establishment of a "European Semester" from January 2011 would become the cornerstone of economic policy coordination. By aligning in terms of timing the examination of national budgets and reform programmes, better ex ante coordination of economic policies will be ensured. The proposals in this Communication can all be agreed under the terms of the Lisbon Treaty and are meant for the 27 Member States of the EU, although more demanding rules will be applied for euro area Member States.

In June, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) remained broadly unchanged at 100.1 (down by 0.1 points) in the EU and at 98.7 (up by 0.3 points) in the euro area.

In 2009, the price level of a comparable basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages was more than twice as high in the most expensive EU27 Member State than in the cheapest one.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the Euro Area declined 0.5 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) increased 0.1 percent in May.

The overall tax-to-GDP ratio1 in the EU27 was 39.3% in 2008, the first year of the economic and financial crisis, compared with 39.7% in 2007. The EU27 tax ratio was 40.6% in 2000, fell to 38.9% in 2004 and then rose until 2007.

Despite moderate collectively agreed nominal pay increases across the European Union in 2009, the dramatic drop in the annual inflation resulted in significant pay increases, according to new data from Eurofound’s European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO). The annual update on pay developments in Europe found that differences in pay and price trends between the former EU15 countries and the 12 new EU Member States remained large, with average pay rises in the new Member States 1.9 times higher than in the former EU15 Member States.

comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, outlined the impact the first three generations of Apple’s iPhone have had on the European mobile market, in light of record pre-sales and extraordinary consumer demand for the iPhone 4.