Broke west German towns eye savings banks

IEA: protect consumers from energy price hikes

The International Energy Agency said Friday that Germany must shield its consumers from paying too much of the cost of its ambitious switch from nuclear power and fossil fuels toward renewable energy. READ () »

German consumers keep recession at bay

Buoyant consumer confidence and increased household spending is keeping Germany, Europe's biggest economy, from recession, despite sagging exports and falling investment, data showed on Friday. READ () »

• 18/05 Economists warn against German euro exit »
• 14/05 Germans cling to Europe as others sour on EU »
• 07/05 France tells Germany: we need growth too »

Tax evasion 'OK for Joe Normal' say Germans

Although Germans express outrage when wealthy or famous people evade taxes, many of them do the same themselves, albeit on a smaller scale, a new survey shows. READ () »

• 08/05 Court: gay and straight tax breaks must match »
• 06/05 Bayern boss Hoeneß steps down - for now »
• 06/05 Painter Baselitz raided in tax avoidance move »

Spain and Germany fight youth employment

Germany has agreed to provide vocational training and jobs for young Spaniards starved of opportunities in their crisis-hit home country. READ () »

Car boss asks Merkel to rethink CO2 pledge

The president of the German Automobile Association (VDA) has written to Angela Merkel, asking her to retract her pledge to significantly reduce CO2 car emissions by 2025, it was reported on Tuesday. READ () »

• 20/05 Germany grapples with nuclear energy phaseout »
• 14/05 Volkswagen plans giant car plant in China »
• 08/04 'Germany is the Mecca of the car industry' »

SAP to hire hundreds of autistic IT experts

German tech company SAP said on Tuesday it wants to hire hundreds of people with autism to work as software testers and programmers. The search has, it said, begun for people “who think differently from others.” READ () »

Economists warn against German euro exit

While a third of Germans would rather pay with the old Deutsche mark than the euro, economists warn that a German exit from the currency union would result in a disaster. READ () »

• 17/05 Germany cool to France's EU economy plan »
• 14/05 Germans cling to Europe as others sour on EU »
• 11/03 Many Germans could back anti-euro party »

Germany cool to France's EU economy plan

Germany said Friday that French President Francois Hollande's proposal for a eurozone economic government was "interesting" but reacted coolly to his call for strengthened European budgetary powers. READ () »

• 16/05 Germany refuses to slam French economic policy »
• 14/05 Germans cling to Europe as others sour on EU »

Au pairs rules relax for non-German families

Foreign families will soon be able to officially engage au pairs from outside the European Union, as long as they speak German at home, as the government prepares to change the law. READ () »

Germany refuses to slam French economic policy

Germany will not publicly criticize France over economic policy, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble insisted on Thursday, amid differences between Berlin and Paris over growth versus austerity in battling the eurozone debt crisis. READ () »