Brussels - The European Union strongly condemns the Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed 101 people on Wednesday, officials in the bloc's Brussels headquarters said.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, "condemns in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attacks this night in Mumbai which have cost the lives of many innocent people and injured others," a statement released overnight said.

Brussels  - The European Union on Wednesday called on member states to help the bloc avoid a deep recession by mobilizing 200 billion euros (260 billion dollars) in extra spending and tax cuts.

"Exceptional times call for exceptional measures," said the head of the EU's executive, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.

"Our plan will boost demand and thus save and create millions of jobs," he said.

According to the head of the EU executive, the bulk of the money - 170 billion euros - should come from national governments, with the remaining 30 billion being made available by the European Commission and the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank (EIB).

Brussels - The European Union's executive was Wednesday set to unveil an economic recovery plan designed to help the 27-member bloc weather the recession.

Officials have said the plan could be worth up to 130 billion euros (170 billion dollars) - or about 1 per cent of the EU's gross domestic product (GDP) - in aid to poor households, as well as investments in infrastructure and in key sectors such as cars, construction and green technologies.

Brussels  - The European Union's executive was Wednesday set to unveil an economic recove

Brussels - The European Union and Syria on Tuesday moved closer to signing an Association Agreement, which will eventually grant the Middle Eastern country access to the bloc's neighbourhood funds.

At a meeting in Brussels, officials from the European Commission and Syria said they had agreed on a series of technical updates to the agreement, which was initialled in
2004 but subsequently frozen as a result of the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Brussels - The European Commission is to allow member states to reduce their value added tax (VAT) rates to boost consumption during the recession, officials in Brussels said Tuesday.

The European Union's executive arm will also propose increasing investments in infrastructure and in key sectors such as cars, construction and green technologies as part of its economic stimulus package, due to be unveiled on Wednesday.