Brussels, 15/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - According to an initial "flash" estimate published by Eurostat on Thursday, the Euro-Zone and the European Union as a whole registered zero growth during the first quarter of 2003. Furthermore, according to forecasts published by the European Commission at the same time, growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be within a range of 0% and 0.4% in the second and third quarters. According to a press release by the institution, these figures, which do not rule out economic stagnation, reflect slack in growth both in terms of domestic and foreign demand. It states that "low confidence in the US and only tentative signs for domestic confidence (within the Euro-Zone) put a drag on this forecast at this stage". Commenting on the Eurostat estimate for the first quarter, Gerassimos Thomas, spokesperson for European Commissioner Pedro Solbes, described it as "somewhat disappointing and surprising", pointing out that the Commission had expected growth of 0.1%. However, he stressed that the difference between 0% and 0.1% was not very great. Lastly, Mr Thomas stated that the Commission had no plans to review its growth forecast for 2003, set at 1%, because it had taken account of various factors in its calculations which have now materialised, such as the end of war with Iraq before the summer.