EUROPE To Make A Comeback In 2003?

'80s hard rockers EUROPE may embark on a full-fledged reunion next year, according to frontman Joey Tempest.

Tempest (real name: Joakim Larsson),who issued his third solo album in October, told Sweden's Aftonbladet newspaper that the group will celebrate their 20th anniversary as recording artists with the release of a CD of previously-unavailable material, and that it would be great for the band to play together again "if the feeling is right."

EUROPE — Tempest, John Norum (guitar),Kee Marcello (guitar),Ian Haugland (drums),Mic Michaeli (keyboards),and John Levén (bass) — last performed together on New Year's Eve 1999 when they reunited to play two tracks ("Rock The Night" and "The Final Countdown") in Stockholm as part of a live television event that was sponsored by Sweden's biggest media company Kinnevik.

The group — who were paid a staggering 21 million SEK (approximately $2.7 million) for the performance — reportedly used the fee to pay off old tax debts (Tempest owed approximately $1.1 million in unpaid Swedish taxes, while the other members owed about $250,000 each).

Two weeks ago, Norum, Levén and Haugland reunited on stage at the Hard Rock Café in Stockholm, Sweden to perform "Rock The Night" and a version of LED ZEPPELIN's "Rock And Roll" as part of a Christmas show thrown by local radio station Rockklassiker 106.7.