Internationally respected credit rating agency, Standard & Poor's has announced its decision to downgrade several Euro zone countries on Friday.

The agency took the top-grade AAA ratings away from France and Austria adding significantly to the concerns in the region. The agency did not change the rating for the regions largest economy, Germany.

The agency downgraded its rating for nine out of the 17 Euro Zone countries. S&P downgraded the rating for France and four other countries by one notch while Portugal, Italy, Spain and Cyprus saw their rating downgraded by two notches.

S&P said that the rating on seven other euro zone countries remains the same. It also said that after reviewing 16 countries, it has found that all but Germany and Slovakia have negative outlooks in the region.

“Today’s rating actions are primarily driven by our assessment that the policy initiatives that have been taken by European policy makers in recent weeks may be insufficient to fully address ongoing systemic stresses in the euro zone,” S.&. P said.

European politicians has criticized S.& P.’s downgrade saying that the agency has not provided any information to investors but has simple increased concerns over the crisis.