Brussels - Europe faces a deep and broad recession this year, the European Commission predicted Monday, with economic activity in the 16-strong eurozone set to shrink by 1.9 per cent as a result of the world's worst economic crisis since World War II.

"The economic horizon has now significantly darkened as the European Union economy is hit by the financial crisis that deepened during the autumn and is taking a toll on business and consumer confidence," the European Union's executive arm said in presenting its latest economic forecasts.

Brussels - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in the European Union's capital on Monday for talks on Iran, Gaza and his country's EU hopes, officials in Brussels said.

Erdogan was due to meet the EU's highest foreign-policy official, Javier Solana, to "discuss EU-Turkey relations and other foreign policy issues, in particular the latest developments in the Middle East and Iran," a statement from Solana's office said.

Brussels  - European Union industry ministers met in Brussels on Friday to find ways of supporting their troubled car industries amid calls for up to 10 billion euros
(13.2 billion dollars) in credit from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

EIB officials attending the talks said they planned to approve in March 3.2 billion euros in soft loans to help carmakers develop greener and more fuel-efficient cars. But they also expressed an openness to do more.

Brussels/Moscow/Kiev/Berlin - Saturday's gas summit between Russia and Ukraine is the "last and best chance" for both sides to salvage their reputation as reliable suppliers, the European Union said Friday as it faced another freezing week with reserves running low.

Russia warned European leaders they must attend the Moscow summit if they cared to see gas flow renewed because bilateral talks would no longer suffices.

"Unfortunately, this issue has gotten beyond bilateral relation," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was quoted by news agency Interfax as saying.

Brussels - The Czech presidency of the European Union said Thursday it was ready to remove a controversial art installation in Brussels depicting Bulgaria as a psychedelic Turkish toilet, following protests in Sofia.

The installation by Czech artist David Cerny is located in the main entrance hall of the council building in Brussels, where EU summits take place.

It is meant to poke fun at national cliches and stereotypes of the EU's 27 member states with an 8-ton jigsaw resembling a plastic scale model of an EU map.

Brussels - European Union energy ministers were meeting in Brussels on Monday to discuss ways of dealing with the shortage of Russian gas arriving via Ukraine.

The supply is now expected to resume on Tuesday following a deal on gas monitors signed in Brussels by representatives of Gazprom, Russia's state-owned gas monopoly, and Ukraine's Naftogaz, whose pipelines are used by Moscow to deliver gas to Europe.

But the long-standing dispute between the two sides has already forced many European countries to dig into their reserves.

It has also sparked a row between Slovakia and neighbouring Austria over Bratislava's plans to meet its own shortfall by re-opening a Soviet-era nuclear reactor shut down by the EU for safety reasons.