The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.03 percent by 0717 GMT after rising during the previous session with energy stocks buoyed by Brent crude prices at four-year highs.

The top gainer on the STOXX was France's Bouygues after the stock was upgraded to overweight by JP Morgan.

A rating cut by Barclays prompted the worst lost of the index with Belgium's Telenet down 4.6 percent.

In the banking sector, Deutsche Bank lost 1.4 percent after a report said it has looked at a theoretical scenario of merging with UBS. The Swiss bank lost 1.5 percent.