Topic: Western Europe

European shares ended the week lower after euro zone leaders imposed further conditions on Greece to receive its next rescue package and the country's far-right leader said he could not vote in favor of the bailout deal.

For all the struggles that Greece has gone through to satisfy its demanding lenders, Europe’s troubles are not going away, the New York Times reports.

Greek political leaders said they had clinched a deal on economic reforms and spending cuts needed to secure a second bailout, but euro zone finance ministers demanded more measures and a parliamentary seal of approval before providing the aid.

Continued worries over Europe's debt crisis has pumped fear into the stock market, keeping investors on the sidelines. "Because everyone is afraid to invest, stocks are at their lowest level in my lifetime," said Ron Baron, Chairman and CEO of Baron Capital.

Greek leaders clinched a long-stalled deal on reforms and austerity measures needed to secure a bailout and avoid a messy default just hours before the country's financial backers were to meet in Brussels on Thursday.

The European Central Bank’s injection of cheap money into the European banking system last December has taken the pressure off the euro zone politicians for the moment, but they still have to take further action, a German economist told CNBC.

Germany expects the Eurogroup to take no decision on a Greek bailout and accompanying bond swap at a meeting later on Thursday, a government official said, as the ground had not yet been laid for a deal.

Spanish government bond yields rose on Thursday as an unexpected issue of debt the previous day tempered investor demand, though any progress towards Greece receiving bailout funds was likely to spur fresh appetite for risk.

European shares closed in the green but off their session highs, as Wall Street was broadly flat, with enthusiasm over a deal in Greece on new austerity measures waning.

Greek leaders failed on Thursday to agree on a reform and austerity program, the price of a financial bailout to avoid a messy default, forcing Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos to go to the country's financial backers with an incomplete deal.

Europe’s 20 richest football teams defied the continent’s financial woes to generate total revenue of $5.8 billion last season, according to a new report by business advisory firm Deloitte.

Euro zone banking liquidity concerns have all but disappeared thanks to the European Central Bank's injection of long-term loans, but building an effective firewall against sovereign stress requires more work, a top ECB official said on Wednesday.

Another batch of the riskiest mortgage-backed securities once owned by the American International Group are being auctioned off this week, according to two people familiar with the matter, a sale that would bring the insurance giant’s 2008 meltdown once step closer to a resolution.

For months now, a big investor has been betting billions of dollars that two of Europe’s most wounded countries will bounce back from the beating they have taken during the region’s debt crisis, the New York Times reports.

European shares closed mixed as positive investor sentiment on Greece was tempered by repeated delays in starting Wednesday's meeting on reform measures.