Michelle Malkin

The Group Winners, Runners-up, And The Best Third-placed Team With The Results Against The Sixth-placed Team Discarded Directly Qualify To The Finals.

The.ight.emaining.hird-placed.eams will contest two-legged play-offs to determine the last four qualifiers for the finals. 10 11 12 Previously Gianni Infantino stated in March 2012 that UEFA would review the qualification competition to ensure that it was not “boring”. 13 In September 2011, during UEFA's first ever full strategy meeting, Michel plating proposed a qualification format involving two group stages, but the proposal was not accepted by the member associations. 14 In May 2013, plating confirmed a similar qualifying format would be again discussed during the September 2013 UEFA executive committee meeting in Dubrovnik . 15 The draw for the finals will take place at the Calais Les Congrès de la Porto Maillot in Paris on 12 December 2015. 1 2 16 The 24 teams will be drawn into six groups of four teams. knock-out phase structure edit In the round of 16, UEFA have arranged the match-ups to take place as follows: 23 matches 1: Runner-up Group A v Runner-up Group C Match 2: Winner Group D v 3rd Place Group B/E/F Match 3: Winner Group B v 3rd Place Group A/C/D Match 4: Winner Group F v Runner-up Group E Match 5: Winner Group C v 3rd Place Group A/B/F Match 6: Winner Group E v Runner-up Group D Match 7: Winner Group A v 3rd Place Group C/D/E Match 8: Runner-up Group B v Runner-up Group F The specific match-ups involving the third-placed teams depend on which four third-placed teams qualify for the round of 16: 23 The quarter-final match-ups are: 23 quarter-finals 1: Winner Match 1 v Winner Match 2 quarter-finals 2: Winner Match 3 v Winner Match 4 quarter-finals 3: Winner Match 5 v Winner Match 6 quarter-finals 4: Winner Match 7 v Winner Match 8 The semi-final match-ups are: 23 semi-finals 1: Winner Quarter-final 1 v Winner Quarter-final 2 semi-finals 2: Winner Quarter-final 3 v Winner Quarter-final 4 The final match-up is: Winner Semi-final 1 v Winner Semi-final 2. If a player is injured or ill severely enough to prevent his participation in the tournament before his team's first match, he can be replaced by another player. 12 The official logo was unveiled on 26 June 2013, during a ceremony at the pavilion camion Capucines in Paris. 26 Conceived by Portuguese agency Brandia Central, which also created the visual identity for the previous European Championship, the design is based on the theme “Celebrating the art of football”. The choice for the first seven was undisputed – France 's national stadium, the Slade de France, four newly constructed stadia in lilly, Lyon, Nice and Bordeaux, and those of the biggest cities, Paris and Marseilles . The Slade de la Beaujoire in Nantes and the Slade de la Mosson in Montpelier, venues which had been used for the 1998 World Cup, were also not chosen. Among these teams are back-to-back defending champions Spain, and for the first time since their affiliation with UEFA, Gibraltar . A total of 53 teams will chase 23 finals places to join hosts France . Same as every tournament since UEFA Euro 1984, there is no third-place match. The last two remaining places, after Strasbourg opted out for financial reasons following relegation, 18 were chosen to be Lens and Nancy in the first round of voting, instead of Saint-Étienne and Toulouse, chosen as reserve stadia. If both Germany and Russia reach the final, the qualifier will be drawn from the losing semifinalists.

European Commission Cuts 2016 Eurozone Growth & Inflation Forecasts

In its Autumn 2015 forecast, the executive arm of the European Union said the euro area gross domestic product is set to grow by 1.6 percent this year, slightly faster than the 1.5 percent predicted in May. The euro area economic recovery this year has been resilient and widespread, but has remained slow, the report said. The commission lowered the projection for next year to 1.8 percent from 1.9 percent. "The impact of the positive factors is fading, while new challenges are appearing, such as the slowdown in emerging market economies and global trade, and persisting geopolitical tensions," the report said. "Backed by other factors, such as better employment performance supporting real disposable income, easier credit conditions, progress in financial deleveraging and higher investment, the pace of growth is expected to resist the challenges in 2016 and 2017." Further, the positive impact of structural reforms is also expected to support growth further in some countries. Eurozone growth was projected to improve to 1.9 percent in 2017. The commission retained its euro area inflation projection for this year at 0.1 percent, while it slashed the outlook for next year to 1 percent from 1.5 percent. Headline inflation was forecast at 1.6 percent in 2017. The steep fall in oil and other commodity prices, which led inflation into negative territory in September, masked the fact that wage growth, strengthening private consumption and the narrowing of the output gap are beginning to add increasing pressure to prices, the report said. by RTT Staff Writer

France.as.hosen.s.he host on 28 May 2010, after a bidding process in which they beat Italy and Turkey for the right to host the 2016 finals. 4 5 The matches will be played in ten stadia in ten cities: Bordeaux, Lens, lilly, Lyon, Marseilless, Nice, Paris, Saint-Denis, St-Etienne, and Toulouse . In the new format however, the four best third-ranked sides would also progress, leaving 16 teams going into the new round of 16 knock-out stage, ahead of the usual quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, and only 8 teams going out at the group stage. 13 The format is exactly the one which was applied to the 1986, 1990 and 1994 FIA World Cups . Asked about its meaning, Jacques Lambert, chairman of the Euro 2016 organising committee, told that the slogan “is much more than a reminder of dates ... and venues”. The French team have won the European Championship two times: in 1984 and 2000 . The choice for the first seven was undisputed – France 's national stadium, the Slade de France, four newly constructed stadia in lilly, Lyon, Nice and Bordeaux, and those of the biggest cities, Paris and Marseille .