Here is a timeline of key events in the euro zone debt crisis since last November, when a new Greek government shocked markets by doubling estimates for the country's 2009 budget deficit.

June 10 - Negotiations to overhaul Spain's rigid labour market, collapse, leaving the government to impose looser hire-and-fire laws without trade union backing.

June 9 - Austerity minded Liberals win Dutch elections but deep divisions over policy will make consensus on bringing government finances under control tough to reach - the deficit is expected to reach 6.6 percent of GDP in 2010.

-- Portugal approves the government's latest austerity package in its final vote on the legislation. Treasury chief rules out drawing on the euro zone aid package, citing a successful bond sale and a strong economic recovery in Q1.

June 8 - Spain's unions say 75 percent of public sector workers stay at home in a protest against austerity plans.

-- Greece's consumer inflation jumps to a higher-than-expected 5.4 percent annual pace in May, its highest since August 1997.

June 7 - Merkel's coalition agrees a package of budget cuts and taxes to bring Germany's structural deficit within EU limits by 2013 and revive her political fortunes.

-- The measures aim to deliver savings of 11.2 billion euros in 2011 and lower a deficit set to exceed 5 percent of GDP in 2010, according to an official draft of the plan.

May 29 - Thousands march in Lisbon against the government's austerity measures.

May 28 - Fitch cuts Spain's credit rating by one notch to AA+ from AAA after record levels of household and corporate debt in Spain, as well as mounting public debt.

May 27 - Spain wins parliamentary approval for its 15 billion euro ($18.4 billion) austerity package by just one vote.

May 25 - Italy's cabinet approves a 24 billion euro austerity package with the aim of cutting the deficit to 2.7 percent of GDP in 2012 from 5.3 percent in 2009.

May 18 - Germany, in an attack on the financial speculation it blames for the debt crisis, announces a unilateral ban on naked short selling of shares in the country's top 10 financial institutions, on euro government bonds and on related transactions in credit default swaps (CDS).

May 13 - Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates and opposition leader Pedro Passos Coelho draw up steps to slash the country's deficit, including public sector pay cuts. The deficit, which hit 9.4 percent of GDP in 2009, is targeted to fall to 7.3 percent in 2010 and 4.6 percent in 2011.

May 11 - Germany's cabinet approves the biggest national contribution -- 123 billion euros in loan guarantees -- to the safety net.

May 10 - Global policymakers install an emergency financial safety net worth 750 billion euros to bolster financial markets and shore up the euro against contagion from the Greek crisis.

-- The package consists of 440 billion euros in guarantees from euro zone states, plus 60 billion euros in a European debt instrument. The IMF will contribute 250 billion euros, taking the total to 750 billion euros, or around $1 trillion.

May 9 - The IMF unanimously approves its part of the rescue loans, and provides 5.5 billion euros immediately.

May 6 - Greek parliament approves latest austerity bill.

May 4/5 - Public workers in Greece stage a 48-hour strike. Up to 50,000 protest in Athens. Three people are killed when a bank is set on fire.

May 2 - Papandreou says Greece has done a deal with the EU and IMF opening the door to a bailout in exchange for extra budget cuts of 30 billion euros over three years, on top of measures already set .

-- The package amounts to 110 billion euros over three years and is the first rescue of a member of the 16-nation euro zone.

-- Germany approves a 22.4 billion euro ($30 billion) share.

April 27 - Standard & Poor's downgrades Greece's credit rating to junk status. The next day it downgrades Spain's rating because of poor growth prospects.

April 23 - Papandreou asks for activation of EU/IMF aid.

April 22 - Eurostat says Greece's 2009 budget deficit was 13.6 percent of GDP, not the 12.7 percent it had reported.

April 11 - Euro zone finance ministers approve a 30 billion euro aid mechanism for Greece, which Athens declines to activate.

March 25 - Euro zone leaders and the IMF agree to create joint financial safety net to help Greece.

March 5 - A new package of public sector pay cuts and tax increases is passed in Greece to save an extra 4.8 billion euros. State-funded pensions are frozen in 2010.

Feb. 5 - Spain attempts to raise the retirement age to 67 from 65, prompting a mass union demonstration against the government.

Jan. 29 - Spain announces a plan to save 50 billion euros ($70 billion) including government spending cuts totalling 4 percent of GDP. The plan includes 4 percent cuts in public sector pay.

Jan. 14, 2010 - Greece unveils a stability programme, saying it will aim to cut its deficit to 2.8 percent of GDP by 2012.

-- Greece readies to refinance 54 billion euros ($66.6 billion) in debt in 2010, including 20 billion euros in Q2.

Dec. 22, 2009 - Moody's cuts Greek debt to A2 from A1 over soaring deficits, the third rating agency to downgrade Greece.

Dec. 16 - Standard & Poor's cuts Greece's rating by one notch, to BBB-plus from A-minus, saying austerity programme is unlikely to produce a sustainable reduction in public debt.

Dec. 9 - In Ireland, a budget delivers savings of over 4 billion euros. Public service pension age rises to 66 from 65.

Dec 8 - Fitch Ratings, which had cut Greece to A- when the higher deficit was revealed, cuts Greek debt to BBB+, the first time in 10 years it has been rated below investment grade.

Nov. 20 - A final budget draft shows Greece aims to cut the deficit to 8.7 percent of GDP in 2010 to show EU partners and markets it is serious about restoring fiscal health.

Nov. 5 - George Papandreou's new socialist government says the 2009 budget deficit will be 12.7 percent of GDP -- more than double the previously published figure -- and pledges to save Greece from bankruptcy.

Portugal Germany