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With Italy also in recession, countries that account for 60% of eurozone gross domestic product(GDP)were probably stagnant in the second quarter.

So euroland is doing a poor job of picking up the slack at a time when the world's traditional economic locomotive, the US, is having difficulty picking up steam.

However, while Europe's traditional economic powerhouses are barely ticking over, the continent is not entirely without its success stories.

To find them, you need to look east, to the three Baltic states(EstoniaLatvia and Lithuania) in the north, through Slovakia in central Europe, to the Balkans in south-east Europe(BulgariaCroatia and Romania).

In a report by HSBC, released last week, the seven countries are given a catchy name: New Europe's new tigers.

The new tigers should all record growth of more than 4% in 2003, according to economic experts. To put that into perspective, the UK, western Europe's fastest-growing economy, will be lucky to grow by 1.7% this year. The figure is well short of the chancellor, Gordon Brown's, forecast of between 2% and 2.5%.

Latvia and Lithuania are likely to match or outstrip even China's impressive growth this year. Admittedly, the new tigers started from a low base, emerging from inefficient, centrally-planned systems, so there was plenty of untapped potential. Still, their success should not be underestimated.

But - and there is usually a but - the new tigers suffer from big current account deficits(thebroadest measure of trade). This is something of particular concern to the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF warns that they have to carefully watch government spending and tax cut commitments in order to meet balanced budget targets, as these are key to retaining investor confidence.

However, HSBC takes a bullish attitude even here, arguing that these current account deficits have been caused largely by the private sector: Namely, equipment imported by private companies. Since such imports will eventually boost exports growth, they should be viewed as positive in the long run, it argues.

In a continent marked by lacklustre economic performance, new Europe's new tigers provide about the only bright spot. Maybe their vigour will rub off on the larger euroland economies.

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