CONSUMER PRICES: INFLATION RATES RISE TO 1.7% IN EURO ZONE AND EU IN DECEMBER.

Highest annual rates were recorded in Ireland (3.9%), Denmark (3.1%) and Spain (2.8%), the lowest rates in Sweden and the United Kingdom (both 1.2%), Germany and France (both 1.4%). Compared with November 1999, annual inflation rose in twelve Member States and fell in three.--The rate used by Eurostat - the Monetary Union Index of Consumer Prices (MUICP) - is calculated as a weighted average of the Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICPs) of the 11 countries in the Euro zone: Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland. It is computed as an annual chain index allowing for country weights changing each year. The...