Brussels warned against complacency on Wednesday after the troubled eurozone finally returned to growth after 18 months stuck in a double-dip recession, reports The Guardian.
Olli Rehn, Europe's economic commissioner, welcomed news that the 17 nations that use the single currency had expanded collectively by 0.3% in the three months to June – the first pick- up in activity since the autumn of 2011.
But Rehn said celebrations should be put on hold given Europe's jobs crisis and the wide disparity in economic performance across the eurozone.
"Yes, this slightly more positive data is welcome – but there is no room for any complacency whatsoever", Rehn said. "I hope there will be no premature, self-congratulatory statements suggesting the crisis is over. For we all know that there are still substantial obstacles to overcome: the growth figures remain low and the tentative signs of growth are still fragile."
Rehn said the average number for the bloc hid substantial differences between states, with Germany's positive performance outstripping that of Spain and Italy, who remain in recession. He added that some member states still have unacceptably high unemployment rates, with economic reforms still in their infancy, leaving the region with a "very long way to go."
"A sustained recovery is now within reach, but only if we persevere on all fronts of our crisis response: keep up the pace of economic reform, regain control over our debt, both public and private, and build the pillars of a genuine economic and monetary union," he said.
Figures released by Eurostat, the EU's statistical agency, showed that a stronger than expected performance by the single currency's two biggest economies - Germany and France - helped haul the eurozone out of recession. Financial markets had been braced for a rise in eurozone GDP following the increase in industrial production reported on Tuesday but were surprised by news that Germany grew by 0.7% in the second quarter and that France grew by 0.5%.
Along with the rest of the world, the eurozone fell into a deep slump in the winter of 2008-09 before recovering in 2010 and early 2011. But a second leg of the downturn then commenced as a result of the eurozone's sovereign debt crisis, which hit confidence, led to a mothballing of investment and resulted in the imposition of hardline austerity programmes.
Despite the growth in the second quarter, the European Commission still expects the eurozone to suffer a second full calendar year of falling output in 2013, with growth resuming in 2014.
Eurostat's figures showed that Italy and Spain - the single currency's third and fourth biggest economies - both remained in recession in the second quarter of 2013. Spain's economy shrank by 0.1% percent on the quarter, while Italy posted a 0.2% decline.
The Dutch economy also contracted by 0.2% but Portugal – one of the three countries that required a financial bailout – recorded the fastest growth of any eurozone country with 1.1% quarterly growth.
Torben Kaaber, CEO of Saxo Capital Markets, said: "So the Eurozone is finally out of recession, whilst this wasn't entirely unexpected, the strength of the growth in the second quarter 0.3% was. The growth was primarily driven by the German economy, which grew 0.7% on the back of increase in domestic private and public consumption.
Read more of this report from The Guardian.