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BRUSSELS/BERLIN Germany signaled on Wednesday it was ready to back plans for the European Central Bank to be made the chief supervisor of banks, raising the prospect of a breakthrough on the European Union’s most ambitious financial reform. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told the German cabinet he was “optimistic” about a deal ahead of a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, a German official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We hope for major progress and perhaps a breakthrough (in the talks),” he said. “We have some questions but if they can be resolved by finance ministers [...]

BERLIN Euro zone finance ministers may achieve a “breakthrough” on Wednesday in their talks in Brussels on reforming supervision of Europe’s banks, a German government official said. Germany and France have been at loggerheads over how many banks the European Central Bank should directly supervise and some other details. “We hope for major progress and perhaps a breakthrough (in the talks),” the German official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding that Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had told the German cabinet he was “optimistic” about a deal. “We are ready to contribute to a solution on banking supervision. We have [...]

BERLIN France and Germany held talks with representatives of EADS and Daimler in Paris over the weekend with the aim of settling a new shareholder structure for Europe’s largest aerospace group, according to a German media report. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said in an advance copy of a report due to appear in its Monday edition that talks focused on capping state shareholdings in EADS at 30 percent, giving France and Germany 12 percent each, Spain 4 percent, and leaving a 2 percent buffer that states could still possibly acquire later. The paper added talks were also looking at what level [...]

BERLIN/PARIS Germany and France each grew by 0.2 percent in the third quarter but with the euro zone’s debt-laden members suffering deeply, the currency bloc as a whole is likely to have slid into recession. The quarterly performance of Europe’s dominant economy reported on Thursday was in line with forecasts and analysts said it could not defy gravity for much longer. The French economy surprised on the upside, having been expected to post no growth at all after a revised 0.1 percent fall in the second quarter. “That was the last good number from Germany for the time being. The [...]

BERLIN/PARIS Germany and France each grew by 0.2 percent in the third quarter but with the euro zone’s debt-laden members suffering deeply, the currency bloc as a whole is likely to have slid into recession. The quarterly performance of Europe’s dominant economy reported on Thursday was in line with forecasts and analysts said it could not defy gravity for much longer. The French economy surprised on the upside, having been expected to post no growth at all after a revised 0.1 percent fall in the second quarter. “That was the last good number from Germany for the time being. The [...]

BERLIN Germany wants to bundle three tranches of aid to Greece into one payment of more than 44 billion euros, German newspaper Bild said on Tuesday, citing German government sources. A German finance ministry spokeswoman, asked to comment on the Bild report, said no final decision had yet been made on next loan payments to Greece. Bild said the payment would comprise the 31.3 billion euros dating from the second quarter that Greece hopes to receive soon to avert bankruptcy along with further tranches of 5 billion euros and 8.3 billion euros for the third and fourth quarters. Earlier on [...]

FRANKFURT The euro dropped versus the dollar and other major rivals Wednesday, with U.S. stock index futures also on the decline, after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the euro-zone debt crisis is beginning to have an impact on the region’s largest economy. “Germany has so far been largely insulated from some of the difficulties elsewhere in the euro area. But the latest data suggest that these developments are now starting to affect the German economy,” Draghi said in remarks prepared for delivery in Frankfurt. The euro fell to $ 1.2747 in recent action, down from $ 1.2817 in [...]

BERLIN German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble suggested on Wednesday that his country may be prepared to show flexibility on Greece’s fulfillment of its bailout terms if there are obstacles that are beyond Greece’s control. Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said earlier on Wednesday that Athens had been given additional time by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to implement new austerity measures. But Schaeuble stressed at an event in Berlin that a report from inspectors representing Greece’s “troika” of international lenders – the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union – must confirm that [...]

DUBLIN German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny issued a joint statement on Sunday reaffirming that euro zone leaders would examine ways of improving Ireland’s bank rescue, recognizing that it is a “special case”. Kenny has come under intense pressure at home since Merkel said on Friday that euro zone banks could not be retrospectively recapitalized via the bloc’s bailout fund, appearing to dash Irish hopes of getting a wide deal on its banking debt. Ireland, which has been in talks for almost 18 months to ease the burden placed on it by its failed banks, added [...]

BERLIN The German economy likely grew in the third quarter despite a weak global backdrop thanks to a strong performance by German industry and robust exports to areas outside the euro zone, the Finance Ministry wrote in its monthly report. “Expansion in German industrial production…likely gave significant growth impetus. Most analysts did not expect this given the deterioration in the business mood,” the report said. Many economists had forecast the economy would contract in the third quarter, particularly as Germany’s closely-watched Ifo business sentiment index worsened for five months in succession. “All in all, German exports continue to appear robust [...]