European Commission

VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

Newton's head of fixed income Paul Brain is concerned about the European Union's system for bailing out struggling countries.

The spread on Spanish government bonds over German bunds reached an all-time high today on continued economic concerns for the Mediterranean country.

The Czech Republic President has hit out at the eurozone bloc, saying the union has failed to bring meaningful economic benefits to its members.

Overseas investors piled into UK gilts in February and March, buying up £28bn worth of assets - more than the inflow for the whole of 2009, according to the Bank of England.

In crisis talks over the weekend, EU finance ministers and the IMF agreed emergency measures worth €750bn to try and prevent contagion from the Greek debt crisis affecting other countries in the eurozone.

Insight head of currency Dale Thomas believes the European Central Bank will need to pump billions into the perhiperal Europe to alleviate the debt spiral and pressure on the single currency.

The big issues that long term investors must address when looking for investments

The UK's three tax-based venture capital schemes have each received formal state aid approval from the European Commission.