Brussels - The European Union's top energy official is set to depart for a mission to Turkey and Azerbaijan Wednesday in a bid to bypass Russia for new gas supplies, officials said.

EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs' visit is set to send a strong political signal that the EU is interested in two major pipelines, known as ITGI and Nabucco, which would bring gas from Azerbaijan through Turkey to Europe while avoiding Russia, European Commission officials said.

Brussels  - A detailed French set of proposals on how to reform the global financial system was at the top of the agenda on Tuesday as European Union finance ministers met in Brussels.

The plans "can still be better, but it's a good start ... I think we'll turn them into European plans," Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos said as the meeting opened.

His Austrian counterpart, Wilhelm Molterer, backed that sentiment, saying that "some countries might judge one or another detail differently, but the direction is absolutely right."

Brussels - Eurozone finance ministers were meeting Monday in a bid to forge a unified response to the global credit crunch, while trying to avoid a recession at home.

The evening gathering in Brussels was the first in a series of preparatory meetings taking place in Brussels this week ahead of a November 15 global summit on the financial crisis in Washington.

And it came amid gloomy new forecasts from the European Commission, which now expects the euro economy to teeter on the brink of recession in 2009.

Brussels - Eurozone finance ministers Monday faced the unenviable double task of trying to lead efforts to reform global capitalism while seeking a fix for their troubled economies.

The evening meeting in Brussels was the first in a series designed to prepare a common European position ahead of global talks on the financial crisis taking place in Washington on November 15.

And it came amid gloomy new forecasts from the European Commission, which now expects the euro economy to teeter on the brink of recession in 2009.

Brussels - The European Union's economy is set to grind to a halt in 2009 and only start picking up in 2010, with a deep recession looming in Britain, the EU's executive said Monday.

According to the latest forecasts from the European Commission, the economy of the 27-member bloc is set to grow by just 0.2 per cent in 2009, while the 16 countries which use the euro are set for growth of just 0.1 per cent.

Growth in 2010 should pick up to around 1.1 per cent for the EU and 0.9 per cent for the eurozone.

Brussels - The European Commission on Thursday cleared a French plan for re-financing troubled lenders, describing it as an "appropriate" system for injecting confidence in the country's financial