Europe would do more harm than good if it turns off its state-aid taps too soon in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the region’s top subsidy enforcer warned, Bloomberg News reported. Olivier Guersent, the head of the European Commission’s competition service, said that even firms that have weathered the storm without needing state handouts could still be dragged down if the rules are tightened before the crisis has abated.

Higher inflation and supply chain bottlenecks will last longer than expected in Europe, the head of the eurozone’s central bank said on Thursday, the New York Times reported. But Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank, insisted that the price rises would be temporary, and she said suggested that financial markets were wrong to expect an increase in interest rates next year. “While inflation will take longer to decline than previously expected, we expect these factors to ease in the course of next year,” Ms. Lagarde told reporters.

Britain’s top finance official laid out a vision for the country’s post-pandemic economy on Wednesday as he announced plans to spend on education, the National Health Service and job skills. But his plans risk being overshadowed by the recent rise in inflation and supply chain disruptions that are weighing on the pandemic recovery, the New York Times reported. “Today’s budget does not draw a line under Covid; we have challenging months ahead,” Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the Exchequer, told lawmakers in Parliament on Wednesday.

German consumers face a rise in prices for goods across the board as more and more companies in Europe's largest economy pass on higher production costs, driven by widespread supply shortages and a spike in energy prices, Reuters reported. While the development is helping firms to improve corporate margins after the coronavirus shock, consumers are feeling the pinch of higher prices, which could hurt household spending and ultimately domestic demand if wage growth is not keeping up.

Offshore driller Seadrill Ltd on Tuesday obtained court approval for its reorganization plan, clearing the way for it to emerge from bankruptcy, Reuters reported. Offshore driller Seadrill Ltd yesterday obtained court approval for its reorganization plan, clearing the way for it to emerge from bankruptcy. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones in Houston signed off on the plan during a virtual hearing. Under the plan, creditors will exchange $4.9 billion in debt for equity in the company. Seadrill will also raise $350 million in new financing.

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak unleashed 75 billion pounds ($103 billion) of giveaways in a budget that defied predictions for fiscal restraint, pinning the path of future spending to predictions for a rapid economic growth, Bloomberg News reported. Sunak slashed taxes for pubs and restaurants, cut duties on alcohol and handed more income to some of the nation’s poorest families in a statement to Parliament on Wednesday. He also earmarked billions of pounds more for infrastructure, education and worker skills, boosting the budget for every government department.

France announced Wednesday that it will bar British fishing boats from some French ports starting next week if no deal is reached with the U.K. in a dispute over fishing licenses — and suggested it may restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands as well, the Associated Press reported. Since the U.K. left the economic orbit of the European Union at the start of the year, relations between London and Paris have become increasingly frayed. France vehemently protested the decision last month by the U.K.

The European Union’s top court on Wednesday handed down a record daily fine to Poland for failing to comply with its decisions, the latest episode in an escalating fight between Brussels and Warsaw over judicial independence, the Wall Street Journal reported. The European Court of Justice ordered Poland to pay the EU’s executive body, the European Commission, one million euros, equivalent to $1.16 million, a day until the country complies with an interim order in July to scrap a disciplinary tribunal whose powers include the ability to fine or demote judges.

The British government said on Tuesday that it would introduce legislation enabling a form of financing for nuclear power stations that it hopes will attract investors willing to put up billions of pounds to build new facilities, the New York Times reported. The government’s move, which would require consumers to help pay for these plants as they are being built, is expected to provide a green light for a long-delayed new nuclear station northeast of London, estimated to cost £20 billion ($27.5 billion).

European Union countries failed to agree on a bloc-wide response to surging energy prices in an emergency meeting of government ministers on Tuesday, with some countries seeking a regulatory overhaul and others firmly opposed, Reuters reported. European gas prices have hit record highs this autumn and remain at lofty levels, prompting most EU countries to respond with emergency measures like price caps and subsidies to help trim consumer energy bills.