Brussels, 30/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - The economic sentiment indicator declined sharply in Europe in July 2008, explains the European Commission in a press release published on Wednesday 30 July. It fell 5.8 points in the EU27 and by 5.3 points in the eurozone, the biggest one-month falls since October 2001. In both regions, the indicator is at its lowest level since March 2003, currently standing at 88.7 in the EU27 and 89.5 in the eurozone. Confidence fell in all sectors, particularly services, and in virtually all Member States. Italy and the United Kingdom experienced a fall of 9.6 and 7.2 in July, and France (-4.7), Germany (-4.2) and the Netherlands (-3.9) also experienced sharp declines. Poland is doing better with a 1.9 point fall and confidence rose by 1.2 points in Spain in July, following a
6.2 point fall in June.
At the same time, the business climate indicator for the eurozone continued to decline and now stands below its long-term average. The indicator's low level suggests that economic activity in industry, which saw a fall in production in May, remains subdued. All the indicator's components experienced a fall. Industrial managers' production expectations and their appraisal of total order books deteriorated the most, but export order books also declined significantly. Assessment of stocks of finished products worsened only slightly. (A.B. /transl fl)