Neutral Austria to buy €4 billion worth of long-range missiles, says defence minister
Austria will spend €4 billion on the acquisition of long-range air defence missiles, Klaudia Tanner, the country’s defence minister, has announced.
Finance
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ECB’s Rehn calls for joint European investment in air defence, drones
Europe must adopt common policies such as joint procurement of air defence equipment and drones to support Ukraine and strengthen its own defence despite large public…
Volkswagen profits tumble 30 per cent
Volkswagen's net profit plummeted by more than 30 per cent in 2024 compared to the previous year.
New doubts over digital-euro plan after ECB outage
European lawmakers have voiced fresh doubt about the European Central Bank’s digital-euro project after an outage in the ECB’s existing payment system caused…
Italian whippet proves top dog at UK’s Crufts
A whippet from Venice in Italy has been named best in show at the 2025 Crufts international dog show in the UK.
Corruption in Pakistan: A risk for South Asia’s stability and a threat for Europe
As Pakistan backs away from its anti-corruption transparency pledge, the consequences could ripple beyond its $7 billion IMF loan programme, threatening regional…
EU rearmament plan is just ‘announcement politics’
Former president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has derided European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's Rearm Europe plan, saying it was "insufficient"…
German National Bank proposes letting go of strict fiscal policy
Germany's Bundesbank proposed a reform of the country's debt brake, allowing Berlin to borrow an additional €220 billion by 2030, a break from its traditional…
EC’s Omnibus package ‘risks undoing sustainable finance ambitions’, warns think-thank
Bruegel, a leading European think-tank, has warned that the European Commission’s first 'Omnibus package' could jeopardise the European Union’s sustainable finance…
Austria’s economic crisis: GDP slump worse than expectations
Austria’s economy shrank by 1.1 per cent in real terms in 2024, it was was announced on March 3 by the country’s federal statistical bureau Statistik Austria.
BP drops ‘green’ ambitions and boosts fossil-fuel production spending
BP has announced it would raise spending on oil and gas to $10 billion (€9.53 billion) a year - and drop its interests in "green" energy.
Germany’s Bundesbank reports record €19.2bn loss
Germany's national bank has reported record losses of €19.2 billion, marking its first deficit since 1979.
‘Buy, buy, buy!’: Denmark to boost military spending by €6.7bn
Denmark has said it will increase its military budget by a combined 50 billion Danish krone (€6.
Billions of euros in frozen Russian assets not so ‘Russian’, Belgian news outlet says
A large portion of the €258 billion being held in Belgium under Russian sanctions has reportedly been found to belong to Western banks and non-sanctioned individuals…
German new residential building permits drop to 14-year-low
The number of new building permits in Germany for apartments has dropped by 17 per cent to the lowest level since 2010 - in what was described as “a balance sheet…
Troubled EU poster child Northvolt has liabilities more than twice as large as assets
Swedish battery developer and manufacturer Northvolt has made massive losses since bankruptcy talks began.
Explosive: US government’s deep involvement in European journalism
The US government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has been funnelling millions of dollars into student and professional…
EU and Canada defence spend up by 20% in 2024, says NATO chief Rutte
Defence spending by NATO's European members and Canada was 20 per cent higher in 2024 than the previous year, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said, ahead of a…
Norway’s ‘Trump whisperer’ Stoltenberg in as new finance chief, urges US engagement
Former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, who has became Norway's new finance minister, said engaging with the administration of US President Donald Trump on trade was…
New Belgian PM wants to cool EU ‘regulatory fervour’, defend Europe within NATO
New right-wing Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said he wants to cool the European Union's "regulatory fervour" to boost corporate competitiveness and that European Union defences…
German unemployment hits almost 3 million as job market shrinks
Germany’s economy has continued its downward spiral as official figures from the Federal Employment Agency (BA) have revealed almost three million people were…
Last-gasp push to secure French budget
A panel of French lawmakers have been meeting to thrash out the final text of a much delayed 2025 budget bill that is key to restoring investor confidence over the…
BMW expects lower-than-expected profit margin due to weak sales
BMW expects its fourth-quarter pre-tax earnings to be significantly below last year and its full-year margin to be in the lower half of its 6-7 per cent target,…
EPPO indicts suspected ‘€297m VAT fraud’ ring-leader
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) has filed an indictment in Latvia against the suspected ringleader of the latest large-scale alleged VAT fraud scheme…
BlackRock CEO: ‘Now is the time to invest in Europe’
Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, has said at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Europe was being underestimated by global investors…
EU bristles as Trump pulls US out of OECD agreement
The European Union appeared to be annoyed at US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of a global Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development…
Shops in Cannes to accept cryptocurrency payments
Shops in France's city of Cannes soon will accept cryptocurrency after Mayor David Lisnard announced plans to support crypto payments and educate local businesses.
Austria will scrap ‘green’ subsidies, say coalition negotiators
The Austrian Freedom Party and the People’s Party pledged cuts in "climate subsidies" to curtail Austria's ballooning budget deficit.
Wilders: Cut spending on climate policies and Ukraine to fund tax cuts
Dutch hard-right leader Geert Wilders called on his country's government to cut spending on climate policies and the Ukraine war to fund tax cuts.
Swedish debt collectors begins seizures at doomed green-tech Northvolt
'Green' darling Northvolt faced seizures by the Swedish Enforcement Authority, Kronofogden, the country's debt collector, over unpaid bills.