EU sees recovery \\\'gaining ground\\\'

The European Commission has said economic recovery is "gaining ground" in the EU as it revised up its growth forecasts for 2014 and 2015. The Commission said the 18-nation eurozone would grow by 1.2 per cent this year and 1.8 per cent next year. In both cases, the figure was 0.1 percentage points higher than in earlier predictions. The UK's economy is now expected to grow by 2.5 per cent this year, up from a previous forecast of 2.2 per cent. However, the Commission left its UK growth forecast for 2015 unchanged at 2.4 per cent, according to a news agency.