In looking at the new economic predictions put out by the EU it is important to see how well past predictions have played out. The media has picked up on the predictions as "light at the end of the tunnel" for the struggling European economies:

Europe's economy is accelerating out of its recent trough, according to new forecasts from Brussels, but stubborn inflation and high government borrowing could hasten an early interest rate rise in the eurozone.

Resurgent domestic demand should help to drive growth in the European Union from 1.5 per cent this year to 2.1 per cent in 2006 and 2.4 per cent in 2007, the European Commission said.

Fair enough. How have past predictions by the very same body panned out:

Sources: Economic Forecasts, Spring 2002, Autumn 2002, Spring 2003, Autumn 2003, Spring 2004, Autumn 2004, Spring 2005, Autumn 2005

Grains of salt all around when it comes to predictions. "Revised downward" has become an all too familiar phrase when describing the collective economies of Europe. Hopefully 2006 and 2007 will introduce a new phrase, "revised upward".