Economic activity accelerated strongly in the first half of 2006 both in the
EU and in the euro area. Real GDP growth rose to 0.8% quarter-onquarter
in the first quarter and 0.9% in the second quarter of 2006.
Although the upturn is partly explained by temporary factors (such as the
football World Cup), this was the strongest pace of expansion since the
second quarter of 2000 and well above potential. Output growth is
expected to reach 2.8% in the EU and 2.6% in the euro area in 2006. This
would be more than 1 percentage point (pp.) above last year's growth and
pp. higher than forecast in the spring.