UBS, the Swiss bank that has been Europe’s biggest casualty of the credit crunch, is to axe 5Â 500 jobs. Of those 2Â 600 face compulsory redundancy, mainly in its stricken investment banking arms in London and New York, as it struggles to regain its reputation and investor confidence.
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/ 25 September 2007
The European Commission got the green light from Europe’s second-highest court last week to pursue even more high-profile antitrust actions against dominant global companies. The court upheld the commission’s decision that the software group had also abused its dominance by illegally "bundling" its Media Player software into Windows.
Last week France and Germany abandoned the dual-nationality management structure at Eads, the owner of Airbus, in an attempt to turn the struggling aerospace and defence group into a "normal" global company. The move will bring an end to the strife that has crippled the group for the past two years.
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/ 12 January 2007
The European Commission this week stepped up the European Union’s campaign to lead the fight against climate change by warning that global warming was so catastrophic that it could trigger regional conflicts, poverty, famine and migration. Setting out a strategy to combat global warming and improve Europe’s energy security at the same time, it said the secondary effects of climate change would inevitably affect even a less vulnerable Europe.
Most people cannot imagine Spain without bullfights, but there are growing signs that the country’s centuries-old fiesta nacional (national celebration) is on the decline. Not only are young people losing interest in the glittering and bloody spectacle, but even some of the authorities are beginning to feel embarrassed about this ”art”.
The mainland European economy, buoyed by a resurgent Germany, is expanding at its fastest rate for six years, outstripping the United Kingdom and the United States, fresh figures showed last week. Domestic euphoria over the football World Cup held in Germany boosted the country’s economy, which grew by 0,9% in the second quarter, the fastest growth for more than five years.c
Recently Eads, the majority owner of Airbus, put an end to the crisis that has crippled it for more than two weeks by forcing the resignations of Noel Forgeard, its joint chief executive, and Gustav Humbert, the head of the European plane maker.
European officials are under mounting pressure to tighten the pollution limits on European industry in the second phase of its flagship emissions trading scheme. Such a move is essential, critics said, to restore the scheme’s credibility and to make a meaningful contribution to tackling climate change.
Volkswagen (VW), Europe’s biggest carmaker, gave a warning recently to its 100Â 000 German employees that they would have to accept thousands of job losses and several plant closures if the group was to survive. Linking his own future to that of the company, the chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder and his fellow directors bluntly told staff that VW was doomed.
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/ 17 February 2006
Volkswagen warned recently that it could axe up to 20 000 jobs at its core VW brand and close several loss-making German plants in a restructuring designed to restore profits. CE Bernd Pischetsrieder told VW’s 103 000 German employees that their productivity was low, plants recorded high losses and some component operations were uneconomical.