French finance minister Michel Sapin said that France was unlikely to meet its deficit target for this year.

"The truth is that, as a direct consequence of sluggish growth and insufficient inflation, France will not meet its public deficit target this year despite a complete control of spending," Sapin wrote in newspaper Le Monde.

'Significant setback'

The German Federal Statistics Office said that extremely mild weather at the beginning of the year had an effect on growth.

Christian Schulz, senior economist at Berenberg bank, said the contraction in the German economy was a "significant setback".

"It seems to be caused largely by weather," he said. "The mild winter this year means the usual spring recovery in construction didn't happen."

The crisis in Ukraine may also have had an impact on economic confidence in the country, he said.

"Putin has an impact on confidence, and thus, investment, and also a little bit on exports," Mr Schulz said.

While it is unlikely that economic sanctions on agricultural imports by Russia will have a direct effect on Germany in the third quarter, confidence may be knocked by instability in the region, he said.

France was suffering from a "long-term weakness" of lack of reform and underinvestment by business, he added.

你喜欢这篇英语财经新闻精选?如果你喜欢，来看看吧!