Euro zone economic growth was slightly weaker than expected in the first quarter because of slower than anticipated expansion in Germany.

New data shows Europe's economy grew by 0.4% in the first three months of the year. That's up from 0.3% in the final three months of 2014 but short of analysts' forecasts of 0.5% expansion.

The gross-domestic-product reading follows a slew of economic indicators that things are looking up for Europe and that the European bloc is still growing faster than the UK and US for the first time since 2011.

But the interesting thing about the growth miss is who's responsible. Both the UK and Germany have had a weak start to the year, missing forecasts. GDP in both countries grew by a disappointing 0.3% in the first quarter. The UK and Germany have until recently been key drivers of European GDP.