Spotlight falls on Europe's stuttering economy

As large parts of Europe's economy grind almost to a halt, attention will focus this week on the latest assessments of business confidence in the euro zone and Germany, which has just narrowly avoided a recession.
While the United States economy has accelerated and China holds a slower but steady course, euro zone countries have remained sluggish, with overall growth in output slowing to a trickle.
"The euro zone is the best part of 20 percent of the global economy," James Knightley, an economist with ING, said. "The longer the stagnation goes on the more Japan-like it becomes."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/16/us-economy-global-idUSKCN0J006O20141116