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Pedestrians pass a closed metro station during a 24-hour strike in Athens. International debt inspectors visit Athens to review the course of Greece's austerity reforms. Unions call for strikes and work stoppages in some sectors in the Greek capital.

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Germany's Martin Schultz addresses the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France after being elected its new president. A German socialist known for his fiery rhetoric, Schultz is promising to increase the role of the 27-nation legislature.

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Protesters opposed to austerity measures demonstrate in Bucharest.

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Greece's Prime Minister Lucas Papademos greets a homeless man during a New Year's meal for the homeless distributed by the municipality of Athens. Papademos said in his New Year address to the Greek people that citizens had to prepare for a 'very difficult year.'

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A protester wakes up early at the French "Indignants" camp out in Paris' La Defense business district as part of a worldwide anti-capitalist movement modeled after the Occupy Wall Street marches.

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Demonstrators hold a banner reading "No to a government of technicians" in Naples, Italy during a rally called "Occupy Naples," protesting against banks and international financial power.

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People attend a protest against the government's austerity measures in Lille, France. This protest called by the main workers trade-unions takes place after the government's second plan and after the euro area leaders agreed during the EU summit in Brussels last week in a statement on a "golden rule" to tighten budgetary discipline to prevent a repeat of the debt crisis.

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Demonstrators march toward the finance ministry protesting the government's proposal to increase the work week hours in Lisbon. Portugal needed a 78 billion euro bailout earlier this year as its high debt load pushed it close to bankruptcy and the government is enacting an austerity program of pay cuts and tax hikes.

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Firefighters take part in a protest against spending cuts in Catalonia's public services in Barcelona, Spain.

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Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso speak before a working session of a European Union summit at the EU headquarters in Brussels. Feuding European Union leaders failed to agree on a new treaty to tackle the debt crisis and instead decided to work on a separate pact for the euro zone, leaving Britain out in the cold.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso during the 20th Congress of the European People's Party in Marseille, France.

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Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti greets Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as they leave an EU summit.

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Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner addresses a press conference at the ministry of Finance in Berlin, Germany, following talks with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.

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A protester passes the Belgian stock exchange during a march through Brussels. Tens of thousands of public and private sector workers, employees and trade union members protested over austerity measures to be taken by the new government.

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A man sits next to a protest banner outside the Council of State, Greece's highest administrative court, during a demonstration in Athens. The court is examining appeals against a new property tax that will leave nonpaying households without electricity. The banner reads: "We owe nothing, We'll pay nothing. We won't pay the tax."

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A guard sits at the entrance of the Athens Stock Exchange. Greece is imposing austerity measures to secure international rescue loans.

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Students and the unemployed take part in a protest against austerity cuts and lack of jobs in Naples, Italy.

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Italian Premier Mario Monti uses a telephone as lawmakers gather during a confidence vote on his government at the lower chamber in Rome. Monti won the vote by 556 to 61.

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Protesters are seen through smoke from a tear gas canister thrown by riot police in Athens.

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Brokers look at the main screen at the Stock Exchange in Madrid on Nov. 15, 2011 as Spain's borrowing costs shot up in an auction of short-term debt. Investors are growing more wary of holding the country's debts amid fears that the eurozone's debt crisis is spreading.

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Fake electoral posters showing the faces of the Spanish bank presidents are seen on a wall near Catalunya square in Barcelona on Nov. 12, 2011.

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Right-wing supporters wave Italian flags in front of the Quirinale, the presidential palace where formal consultations ahead of the formation of a new cabinet take place on Nov. 13, 2011 in Rome. Italy readied a new government after the momentous resignation of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

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Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos reacts during a parliament meeting in Athens on Nov. 16, 2011. Greece's new coalition government has won a confidence vote in parliament with a comfortable majority, backing a pledge by Papademos to speed up long-term reforms and secure a massive new bailout deal involving banks and rescue creditors.

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Greek Communist Party's members shout slogans during a protest at Athens' main Syntagma square, on Nov. 4, 2011. About 7,000 protesters attended the rally as Greece's ruling Socialists were in open revolt against their own prime minister ahead of a confidence vote.