Dublin - The man who spearheaded Irish opposition to the European Union's Lisbon Treaty said Monday that he hoped to turn his organization into a European political party.

Declan Ganley told Irish broadcaster RTE his aim was to run candidates in many EU states in the June 2009 European elections.

He said the move would provide an opportunity across the EU to provide a proxy referendum on the treaty designed to streamline the running of the 27-nation bloc.

Berlin - European inflation edged down in October, data released Friday showed, as a result helping to pave the way for the European Central Bank to deliver another hefty rate cut next week.

Based on its preliminary estimate, the European Union's statistics office said annual inflation in the 15-member eurozone edged down to 3.2 per cent this month from 3.6 per cent in September. Analysts had also expected inflation to come in at 3.2 per cent in October.

Berlin - European inflation edged down in October, data to be released Friday is forecast to show, adding to the likelihood of the European Central Bank delivering another hefty cut in interest rates next week.

Analysts expect the European Union's statistics office to say in its preliminary estimate for October that inflation in the 15-member eurozone edged down to 3.2 per cent or even 3.1 per cent from 3.6 per cent in September.

Berlin  - Economic confidence in Europe plummeted in October to its lowest level since 1993, according to a key survey released Thursday, adding to signs of a looming recession for the region.

The European Commission's closely-watched economic sentiment indicator (ESI) for the 15-member eurozone dropped from 87.5 in September to 80.4 October in the wake of share market chaos that has helped to fuel the deepening sense of economic gloom facing the currency bloc.

The release of the commission's latest survey comes just one week before the European Central Bank is expected to cut interest rates to help shore up investor and economic confidence.

Brussels - The European Commission on Thursday approved plans by Sweden and Portugal to protect financial institutions from the global credit crunch.

Sweden's plan involves the state providing up to 1,500 billion Swedish kronor (201 billion dollars) in debt guarantees to banks and other lenders.

Portugal's plan envisages similar state guarantees worth 20 billion euros (26 billion dollars).

Both schemes were approved by the European Union executive after they were found to be in line with the bloc's rules on state aid.

But while Sweden's was cleared within just three days of it being notified to the commission, the Portuguese plan had to be negotiated with officials in Brussels over a two-week period.

Frankfurt - European stocks stormed ahead Wednesday on hopes of lower interest rates.

Amid expectations of the US Federal Reserve delivering another hefty cut in borrowing costs Wednesday, Europe's blue-chip Stoxx 50 climbed 7.8 per cent to 2222 after chalking up even bigger gains during the day.

The positive mood was reflected across national bourses with shares in London gaining more than 6 per cent and Paris jumping more than 7 per cent as the afternoon session drew to a close. Stocks in Zurich were up 5.40 per cent.