BRUSSELS, March 23 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) leaders are meeting Thursday to put the finishing touches to a comprehensive response to the year-long debt crisis.
The following are major events that occurred in connection with the ongoing debt crisis in the eurozone:
Oct. 20, 2009: The Greek government conceded that the country's deficit continued to surge, exceeding 12 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009, well beyond the EU deficit ceiling of 3 percent of GDP.
The Greek debt crisis then unfolded after the subsequent downgrading of Greece's sovereign credit rating by the world's three major rating agencies.
In the first two months of 2010, the Greek government unveiled a series of austerity measures to contain the country's soaring public debt, but to little avail.
Feb. 11, 2010: European leaders agreed at an informal summit to take coordinated action to ensure financial stability in the eurozone, but they produced no bailout plan for Greece.
March 25, 2010: EU leaders agreed on a eurozone and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout plan for debt-ridden Greece, but detailed arrangements remained under discussion.
They also asked European Council President Herman Van Rompuy to lead a task force and present concrete proposals to improve economic governance in the EU and avoid the reappearance of the debt crisis.
April 23, 2010: The Greek government formally requested financial support from the EU and the IMF.
April 27, 2010: The Greek debt rating was decreased to BB+ (the highest junk-level) by rating agency Standard and Poor's. Medium-term financing risks related to the government's high debt burden were growing despite the government's sizable fiscal consolidation plans, the rating agency said.
May 2, 2010: EU leaders agreed to activate the aid package for Greece, along with the IMF, to offer the country 110 billion euros (156 billion U.S. dollars) in the next three years.
Eurozone members would contribute 80 billion euros (114 billion dollars), and the IMF 30 billion euros (43 billion dollars).
In return, Athens announced further spending cuts and tax increases totaling 30 billion euros (43 billion dollars) over three years, promising to slash its budget deficit to the EU limit of 3 percent of GDP by 2014 from 13.6 percent last year.
May 5, 2010: An estimated 100,000 Greek workers took to the streets during a nationwide strike against the government's new harsh austerity measures. At least three workers were killed and five others injured during the strike.
May 10, 2010: EU finance ministers agreed on an unprecedented rescue mechanism worth up to 750 billion euros (1,065 billion dollars) to prevent the Greek debt crisis from spreading and restore confidence in the financial markets.
The largest bulk of the 750 billion euros, or 440 billion euros (625 billion dollars), would come from eurozone countries in the form of loan guarantees, with which the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) was set up in Luxembourg to borrow money from the markets and lend to troubled eurozone members.
The European Commission would raise 60 billion euros (85 billion dollars) from financial markets on behalf of the EU. The IMF is expected to provide at least half of the EU contribution, or 250 billion euros (355 billion dollars).
May 12, 2010: The European Commission called for tough and even unpopular reforms to reinforce budgetary discipline and improve economic governance in the EU to avoid a scenario similar to the Greek debt crisis.
May 18, 2010: Eurozone finance ministers decided to deliver the first installment of financial support, worth 20 billion euros (28 billion dollars), to Greece.
May 25, 2010: Italy unveiled an austerity package worth 25 billion euros (35.5 billion dollars) with the aim to cut its deficit to 2.7 percent of GDP in 2012 from 5.3 percent in 2009. Spain also won parliamentary approval for its 15-billion-euro (21-billion-dollar) austerity package two days later.
June 7, 2010: With a haunting fear over the debt crisis, the euro dropped below 1.19 dollars, the lowest level since March 2006.
July 7, 2010: Germany agreed on an austerity plan, aiming to deliver savings of 80 billion euros (114 billion dollars).
July 13, 2010: Portugal's debt rating was downgraded by Moody's to A1.
July 23, 2010: The EU released results of a stress test in the banking sector. Among the 91 European banks tested, only 7 failed.
Sept. 7, 2010: Eurozone finance ministers approved the second installment of financial support to Greece, which was worth 6.5 billion euros (9.2 billion dollars). On the same day, EU finance ministers decided to introduce a new mechanism named European Semester from next year to better coordinate economic policies of member states, under which national budgetary plans would be reviewed by the commission.
Sept. 29, 2010: The commission tabled legislative proposals to strengthen budgetary discipline in the eurozone and called for tougher sanctions against deficit sinners.
Sept. 30, 2010: Ireland astonished the markets by revealing that the costs for saving its troubled banks could reach 50 billion euros (71 billion dollars). As a result, the country's deficit was forecasted to hit 32 percent of GDP this year, a level rarely seen.
Oct. 18, 2010: The task force led by Van Rompuy held its last meeting and reached a deal on reforms needed for stricter budgetary discipline and better economic governance in the EU.
Oct. 28-29, 2010: EU leaders endorsed the reform plan of the task force, agreeing to strengthen budgetary discipline, introduce macro-economic surveillance, improve coordination of economic policies and set up a permanent crisis resolution mechanism to prevent recurrence of the sovereign debt crisis. However they left the details of the permanent crisis resolution mechanism to be decided at their next summit in December, because controversial changes to the Lisbon Treaty would be needed.
Nov. 10, 2010: Irish borrowing costs on benchmark 10-year bonds hit a record high since the launch of the euro in 1999, fueling speculation that Ireland would soon request a bailout.
Nov. 21, 2010: Ireland formally asked for financial support from the EU-IMF joint rescue mechanism set up in May.
Nov. 24, 2010: The Irish government unveiled an austerity plan to meet conditions for bailout by the EU and the IMF. It aimed to cut budgetary deficits by 15 billion euros (21 billion dollars) from 2011 to 2014.
Nov. 28, 2010: EU finance ministers hammered out an 85-billion-euro (121-billion-dollar) rescue package for Ireland at an emergency meeting. Eurozone finance ministers also agreed that private investors should share the costs of a sovereign debt crisis under the future permanent crisis resolution mechanism.
Dec. 16-17, 2010: EU leaders agreed on changes to the Lisbon Treaty for establishing a permanent crisis resolution mechanism in the eurozone, which is intended to be operational in mid-2013 for future bailouts.
Feb. 4, 2011: EU leaders pledged at an informal meeting to hammer out a comprehensive package of measures to deal with the debt crisis by March.
Feb. 14, 2011: Eurozone finance ministers reached a preliminary agreement that the future permanent bailout fund should have a lending capacity of 500 billion euros (710 billion dollars).
March 11, 2011: The Portuguese government announced new austerity measures to restore market confidence and avoid the fate of Greece and Ireland.
March 11, 2011: Eurozone leaders reached agreement in principle on the comprehensive response to the debt crisis, agreeing to reduce interest rate and extend repayment period for bailout loans to Greece, hammering out an ambitious reform plan named the Pact for Euro for the single currency club and pledging to raise the lending capacity of the EFSF to 440 billion euros (625 billion U.S. dollars) instead of 250 billion euros (355 billion U.S. dollars) currently.
March 15, 2011: EU finance ministers agreed a general approach on a package of legislative proposals tabled by the European Commission in September last year to strengthen economic governance in the EU and more specifically in the eurozone, paving way for the legislative approval by the middle of this year.
March 21, 2011: EU finance ministers laid out details of the permanent bailout fund which would become operational in mid-2013 and have a capital base of 700 billion euros (994 billion U. S. dollars) to deal with future debt crisis.
March 23, 2011: Portugal's Parliament voted against the government's latest austerity measures, which prompted Prime Minister Jose Socrates to resign. The political crisis pushed the country to the verge of asking for a bailout.
March 24-25, 2011: EU leaders are expected to endorse a comprehensive package of measures to tackle the debt crisis, eyed as a turning point in the euro's year-long struggle.
