Moody's Cuts EU Outlook to Negative

The European Union has somehow kept a triple-A credit rating throughout a years-long debt crisis—but maybe not for much longer. Moody's has lowered the bloc's outlook from stable to negative and warned that a downgrade could be on the way, reports the BBC. The ratings agency earlier this year downgraded the outlooks for Germany, France, Britain, and the Netherlands, which account for around 45% of the EU's revenue. Moody's says it believes that in the event of "extreme stress," the four countries would service their own debts before those of the EU.

"Hence, it is reasonable to assume that the EU's creditworthiness should move in line with the creditworthiness of its strongest key member states," Moody's said. (More Moody's stories.)