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It has seen five million units sold in 75 countries, and over its three decades of existence has become the brands top-selling model. The Seat Ibiza had a lot to celebrate on its 30th birthday last week.

The Ibiza, which is now into its fourth generation, was born in 1984 at Seats now-defunct factory in Barcelonas Zona Franca. The plant, which once employed 33,000 people, had sticky floors, was freezing cold in the winter and boiling hot in the summer, and saw its cars dragged around with chains. The concept of occupational hazards was not in the managers lexicon back then.

The engine of the first model had 44 horsepower, while the finished item cost 825,000 pesetas close to 5,000, which would be around 15,600 today.

But the Ibiza was a lot more than a best-selling model: it was the car that saved the company. In 1984, the Italian car maker Fiat had just pulled out of the Spanish car maker, which reverted to the National Industry Institute (INI). Meanwhile, Volkswagen was pondering whether it would be worth buying a Spanish brand that had a commercial network, but whose cars were not much more than replicas of the Fiat models.

The old factory was freezing in winter and boiling in summer

Vicen Aguilera, former director of Seats Technical Center and currently president of the Automotion Cluster of Catalonia association, joined Seat in 1982.

The Ibiza had been on the drawing board for a year, and it was a way to keep Volkswagen interested in us, he recalls. The German company finally bought Seat on December 30, 1985.

The INI had commissioned a sketch from the prestigious Italian designer Giorgio Giugiaro. But the draft came with no engine or gearbox.

C.B.

Production: 4,976,451 units spanning four generations of Ibiza

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Ibiza: the car that saved Seat

Ievan polkka /Finnish folk songs/
Latvijai 10 gadi Eiropas Savienb / Latvia 10 years in the European Union 01.05.2014 "Framest"

By: Azure Blue

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Ievan polkka /Finnish folk songs/ - Video

The European Union is broadly satisfied with Japan's progress in opening up its markets in talks towards an ambitious free-trade deal and will likely approve the continuation of negotiations later this month.

According to an EU document and people briefed on the issue, Japan has complied with, or was in the process of complying with, the majority of its commitments in sectors ranging from organic food to textiles.

EU trade negotiators were told to pull the plug on talks, which began in April 2013, after a year if Japan did not show sufficient willingness to bring down barriers to European exports.

"Japan has demonstrated it is as serious as any other of our trading partners," said one person close to the issue who declined to be identified. "We should allow talks to continue. If we push Japan too far, we will lose their confidence."

But the European Union is still demanding that Japan end preferential tax treatment for domestically-produced small "kei" cars", which European carmakers such as Fiat and PSA Peugeot Citroen say hampers their access to the Japanese market.

Brussels is also warning that work to streamline Japan's process of authorising medical devices could take several years.

EU countries and the European Commission are expected to decide whether to continue talks with Japan at a meeting in Brussels on May 23.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott and Philip Blenkinsop)

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Japan meets most European Union conditions for more trade talks

The European Union forecast that Spain will post its fastest economic growth in eight years in 2015 as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy allows his budget shortfall to rise in the run up to a general election.

Spanish gross domestic product will grow 2.1 percent next year and the budget deficit will widen to 6.1 percent of GDP unless Rajoy changes his current policy settings, the EU said today in its spring economic forecast. The EUs outlook for the economy next year, raised from a previous estimate of 1.7 percent, exceeds the Spanish governments prediction for a 1.8 percent expansion. Rajoys government also said it will meet its 4.2 percent deficit target in 2015.

Rajoy is trying to convert Spains economic gains into political capital as he enters a string of elections beginning with this months vote for the European Parliament and ending with a general election due by November next year. The economy expanded for a third straight quarter in the first three months as Spain emerges from a six-year slump that pushed unemployment as high as 27 percent.

Employment is expected to grow faster in 2014, the EU said in todays report. Domestic demand takes over as the main growth driver through next year, it said.

With slowing inflation across the euro area crimping Spains competitiveness gains, Rajoy has urged European Central Bank President Mario Draghi to unleash the program of quantitative easing that central bank officials have been devising in order to boost prices across the currency area.

Inflation in Spain will remain very low at 0.1 percent this year and 0.8 percent in 2015, the EU said. Unemployment will see a moderate fall, reaching 24 percent next year.

Whats important is that the European Commission says that next year Spain will grow more than the European average and will create more employment than the European average, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos told reporters in Brussels today. I think thats the message and its a very positive message.

Budget Minister Cristobal Montoro ruled out further budget cuts last week saying that the measures already in place will be enough to meet Spains deficit targets through 2016, when the government is committed to cutting the shortfall to 2.8 percent of GDP. The EU said its forecast for the gap to widen next year assumes temporary tax increases will be allowed to expire by the end of this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sills in Madrid at bsills@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net Zoe Schneeweiss, Patrick Henry

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EU Sees Spains Biggest Expansion Since 2007 as Budget Gap Grows

LUXEMBOURGThe European Union should consider treaty change over the longer term, as this would increase the possibilities to strengthen the euro currency union, said European Central Bank Executive Board member Yves Mersch Monday.

In the longer term, it seems appropriate to reflect on the limits of the current framework in which we are evolving. A Treaty change could enlarge our horizon of possibilities, he said in remarks prepared for delivery here.

The consequences of misguided fiscal policies in a monetary union are too severe to remain self-policed. Beyond the recent reform of fiscal governance, the euro area centre could be endowed with veto rights over those national budgets that violate the European rules, he said.

The euro area needs to achieve a higher degree of economic convergence, in terms of competitiveness, growth potential and flexibility. This is essential for each individual country and for the smooth functioning of the euro area as a whole, he said. The framework for policy coordination should be made more stringent and enforceable at European level.

Europe is recovering from an historic debt crisis, which has forced leaders to come up with ways to toughen up fiscal rules.

In his prepared remarks, Mr. Mersch did not address current monetary policy. ECB policy makers tend to refrain from speaking about policy less than one week ahead of the monthly policy meeting. Most experts do not expect the ECB to announce new action at its next policy announcement, due to take place Thursday, despite very low inflation in the currency bloc. Some experts are eyeing June as a date where action might be taken, as the central bank may be forced to cut its inflation outlook.

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ECBs Mersch Thinks EU Should Consider Treaty Change Over Longer Term