Europe stocks opened lower after yesterday's rapid increase as investors await the meeting of the EU finance ministers aimed at easing the debt crisis. Report of Standard & Poor's plan to downgrade France's credit rating also contributed to the share price decline. The Stoxx Europe 600 index decreased by 0.3% to 229.23, the French CAC 40 index lost 0.5% to 2,997.94, the German DAX 30 index edged down 0.4% to 5,722.73 and the FTSE 100 index declined by 0.2% to 5,300.92.