EU official forecasts point toward a sluggish recovery; continued weakness in France

BRUSSELS – European Union economic forecasts point toward a sluggish recovery and continued problems for France.

In Tuesday's official forecasts, EU Vice President Jyrki Katainen said that "the economic and employment situation is not improving fast enough" in the wake of the financial crisis that has hit the continent for the past half-decade.

The forecasts said that growth was expected to be only 0.8 percent in the 18-country eurozone as a whole this year.

France has been under pressure for years to improve its economic performance but the forecast said that "growth is forecast to remain low in 2014 and 2015" while its deficit and overall debt "are expected to continue rising."

After Germany's economy is expected to stagnate for the rest of the year, "growth is set to resume gradually."