European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Monday that the European Central Bank was not hindering the euro zone. "Their monetary policy is not playing a restrictive role," he told reporters. Asked about finanical market expectations that euro zone interest rates might have bottomed at a higher level than U.S. rates, he said: "The problem may be real interest rates in the U.S. are not sustainable...We are not in this position. In the coming future we will probably have rises on the other side of the Atlantic."///