Key dates in the latest phase of Europe's financial crisis:
July
- 21: Eurozone leaders agree on a new bailout of Greece totalling 159 billion euros ($216 billion) and for the first time involving private bondholders such as banks.
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They also agree to boost the eurozone's bailout fund, European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), to 440 billion euros and give it new tools to fight a spread of the debt crisis.
August
- 3: Borrowing costs for Italy and Spain hit record highs.
- 10: Concern emerges that France could be the next country to suffer a debt crisis.
- 11: Trading authorities in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium restrict the financial technique known as "short selling".
- 15: The European Central Bank (ECB) says it bought a record 22 billion euros of government bonds, mainly to support Italy and Spain.
- 16: France and Germany vow to give the eurozone bloc a "true economic government" and to hold eurozone members to a tougher fiscal standard.
- 24: France in its turn unveils a deficit-cutting package.
September
- 2: European Union and International Monetary Fund auditors visit Greece and say the country has failed to meet conditions for more rescue funding.
- 7: Spain approves a "golden rule" in its constitution to keep future budget deficits to a strict limit. It is only the second country to do so after Germany.
- 9: ECB chief economist Juergen Stark resigns, with the bank split over bond buying.
- 11: Greece announces new budget cuts, with renewed rumours of a debt default or its possible exit from the eurozone.
- 14: Moody's ratings agency downgrades top French banks Societe Generale and Credit Agricole.
- Italy's parliament endorses the government's 54.2-billion-euro austerity package.
- 16: Spain reports its public debt at a 14-year high.
- 29: The parliament in Germany, the eurozone's richest member, votes to boost the EFSF.
October
- 2: Greece confirms that it will not achieve its public deficit reduction objectives for 2011.
- 3: The Eurogroup puts off again the payment of eight billion euros of loans promised to Greece in its first rescue plan.
- 5: The IMF warns that the second Greek bailout may need to be reassessed, and does not rule out a worldwide recession in 2012.
- 6: The ECB decides against a rate cut and pledges additional liquidity for banks.
- US President Barack Obama, fearing contagion, warns that Europe must "act fast".
- 7: Fitch cuts its credit ratings on Italy and Spain, while Moody's warns Belgium could be downgraded.
- 9: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy vow a response to the crisis within weeks, insisting they were united on plans to shore up Europe's banks.
- 10: Belgium, France and Luxembourg rescue Dexia bank, splitting up the bank after it becomes the first lender to succumb to the crisis.
- The European Union delays a summit by almost a week to October 23 to give leaders more time to polish their response to the crisis.
- 12: The EU presses banks to urgently beef up their coffers against the crisis.
- 13: Slovakia becomes the final eurozone member to approve the revamped rescue fund, which can now come into force. The vote comes two days after Bratislava lawmakers rejected it, in a crunch vote that also toppled the country's centre-right government.
