Category: Germany

Germany May Send Military Aid To Eastern Europe In Response To Russia’s Actions

The German defence ministry is considering providing military assistance to some eastern European members of the NATO defence alliance, in order to assuage fears of further Russian aggression following their actions in Crimea, reported Der Spiegel over the weekend.

The defence ministry in Berlin could send up to six air force planes to patrol the Baltic region, the news magazine said, adding that the number of NATO aircraft could be doubled at least.

Germany To Set 30% Minimum Quota For Women In Boardrooms

Publicly listed German companies will soon have to ensure a 30 percent female presence in their supervisory boards, reported AFP, after the nation’s top political parties on Monday agreed on a plan to fix the large gender imbalance in businesses.

EU To Investigate If Germany’s Trade Surplus Is Harming European Economy

The European Union’s executive body, the European Commission, has launched an inquiry into Germany’s persistently high current account surplus, in order to determine if Europe’s largest economy was indirectly causing harm to the rest of the region, reported the Financial Times.

US Treasury Says Germany Is Hurting World Economy

Germany’s persistently high trade surplus and export-led growth model is preventing the eurozone from recovering quickly, harming the wider global economy in the process, said a U.S. Treasury report on Wednesday.

In its semi-annual report to Congress on international economic policies, the U.S. Treasury took a surprising swipe at German economic policies, blaming them for hindering economic rebalancing in Europe.

Germany May Set Up Its Own Internet After NSA Spying Scandal

Germany is reportedly considering creating its own Internet network service in order to “shield local internet traffic from foreign intelligence services” like the NSA, reported Reuters last week.

Eurozone Crisis Saved Germany €80bn in Interest Payments

The German government has saved 80 billion euros ($107 billion) in interest payments since the start of the financial crisis because interest rates for the country’s bonds are so low, said the Institute for the World Economy, a German think tank and economic research centre.

While other countries in the 17-member euro area have battled against investor fears that their economies may buckle under the weight of rising debt costs, Germany has managed to save billions of euros thanks to its reputation as a safe haven for investments.

Germany To Investigate Claims Of Cold War-Era Illegal Human Drug Trials

Health and government institutions in Germany on Tuesday pledged to launch a full-scale investigation into several pharmaceutical companies, after a report emerged this week that at least 50,000 former East German patients may have been used as human guinea pigs in drug trials from 1983 until the fall of communism in 1989.

Germany’s Rating On Negative Outlook, Despite Maintaining Triple-A Status

International credit ratings agency Moody’s on Thursday reaffirmed Germany’s top “Aaa” sovereign debt rating, but issued a negative outlook for its economy, just a day after rumours over a possible German downgrade prompted a sell-off in European stock markets.

Although the agency emphasised that its credit report on Germany was “an annual update to the markets and does not constitute a rating action,” it noted that German GDP growth had slowed in 2012, while forecasting it to slow further to 0.4 percent in 2013.

Germany To Take On No New Debt From 2015

Germany on Wednesday presented a budget that would allow the federal government to reach a structurally balanced budget in 2014, a year earlier than expected.