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Oettinger Brewery relocates its international business to Switzerland
The Oettinger Group, based in Oettingen, Bavaria, has been pursuing a profound corporate restructuring since 2023, reorganizing its international business through a new company in the Swiss canton of Zug. This move is driven by the sharp decline in the beer market, falling sales in Germany, and the goal of generating a significantly larger share
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Energy tax on fuel is supposed to decrease – government hesitates for weeks and delivers only minimal relief
Following an extraordinary coalition committee meeting at Villa Borsig, the German government announced a temporary reduction in the energy tax on gasoline and diesel. The trigger was a sharp rise in fuel prices, which the coalition primarily attributes to the war in Iran, while the real reasons lie deeper, in high taxes, politically inflated energy
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Petrol price protests in Ireland: Government decides on further tax cuts
Following sometimes violent protests against high fuel prices in Ireland, the government has decided on a further reduction in petrol and diesel taxes. “We have heard you,” Prime Minister Micheál Martin and his deputy Simon Harris declared at a joint press conference on Sunday, addressing the demonstrators. The government had also put together a further
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The government promises reforms – but the wave of company closures continues unabated
In Germany, 4,573 partnerships and corporations filed for insolvency in the first quarter of this year, the highest number since the third quarter of 2005. The Leibniz Institute for Economic Research Halle also reported a particularly sharp increase in March. The figure was 71 percent higher than the average for March between 2016 and 2019,
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Wind power company Vestas is cutting 440 jobs in Denmark
Vestas is cutting around 440 jobs at its Lindø site on the island of Funen and aims to complete the reductions in Denmark by mid-2026. The cuts primarily affect the production of offshore hub houses for the V236-15.0 MW model. The reasons for the cuts are faster production processes, coupled with increasing pressure on margins
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Clearing despite legal action: Wind farm near Hermannsdenkmal alters cultural landscape
Clearing work for a controversial wind farm began in the Teutoburg Forest at the beginning of April. The project is located near the Externsteine rock formation, the Berlebeck Eagle Sanctuary, and the Hermann Monument. It thus encroaches upon one of the most well-known landscapes in East Westphalia. The trigger was a permit already granted for
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Ireland: Protests against high fuel prices escalate – military to break up blockades
Protests against high fuel prices in Ireland reached a new level of escalation in early April 2026. In Dublin, Cork, Galway, and Foynes, demonstrators blocked fuel depots, major roads, and the country’s only refinery. The government is considering deploying the military to support the police in clearing the blockades. The trigger was a sharp increase
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Diesel prices cripple fishing in the Netherlands – half the fleet remains in port
In Amsterdam and other Dutch ports, at least half the fleet is idle this week because high diesel prices are making large parts of the fishing industry unprofitable. Particularly affected are the fuel-intensive beam trawlers targeting North Sea species such as sole, turbot, and plaice, which represent around 7 percent of the EU fleet. The
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EU warning to Spain: Planned fuel tax reduction violates European law
The European Commission has warned Spain over its planned reduction of the value-added tax (VAT) on fuels from 21 to 10 percent, classifying the move as a violation of current EU law. This is according to a letter dated March 28 to the Spanish authorities, as reported by El País. The warning stems from a
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Sabotage in Italy cripples TAL pipeline – southern Germany’s fuel supply in danger
At the end of March 2026, an act of sabotage targeted the power supply of a pumping station on the Transalpine Pipeline (TAL) near Terzo di Tolmezzo in northern Italy, disrupting the flow of crude oil to southern Germany for approximately three days. Refineries in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg were particularly affected, as they were only
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Fuel prices in Germany – the government is profiting and refusing any real relief
Germany in April 2026: Soaring fuel prices are burdening drivers, commuters, freight companies, and ultimately almost all consumers. The German government primarily attributes the price pressure to the war in Iran. While the external trigger may lie in the Middle East, the real crisis has been brewing domestically for years, as Germany’s energy policy generates
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AI boom drives up prices for gas turbines – limited availability jeopardizes the construction of new power plants
The global shortage of gas turbines is worsening, but it is primarily the exploding prices that are increasingly hindering the construction of new gas-fired power plants. This development is triggered by the rapidly growing electricity demand of AI data centers, while consumption in industry, transportation, and buildings is also rising. The market is concentrated in
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Fuel prices are exploding, European governments are cutting taxes – Germany continues to rake in the profits
In Germany, fuel prices have risen sharply since the start of the Iran-Iraq War on February 28, 2026, while the federal government is simultaneously recording substantial additional revenue through value-added tax (VAT). According to calculations by NIUS, this extra revenue had already totaled more than €390 million by April 8. Since mid-March, it has sometimes
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Spain in blackout: Final report confirms solar peaks and lack of reserves as the cause
The widespread power outage on the Iberian Peninsula on April 28, 2025, struck Spain and Portugal almost simultaneously, crippling key parts of the power grid within seconds. The final report cites a dangerous combination of severe voltage fluctuations, high solar power generation, and a lack of stabilizing power plant capacity as the cause. New audio
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Olympus is cutting 234 jobs in Hamburg – layoffs are also threatened from April 1st, 2026
At Olympus in Hamburg, a total of 234 full-time positions have been eliminated from the workforce plan since April 1, 2026. All of the medical technology company’s locations in the city are affected. The reduction is part of a global cost-cutting program, announced by Olympus in November 2025, which encompasses approximately 2,000 positions. The trigger