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.

Britain has experienced a series of shortages these past few months, from a lack of fuel at gas stations to not enough workers picking the fall harvest, but Treasury chief Rishi Sunak is unlikely to dwell on them when he delivers his annual budget statement on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, as he is formally known, will instead likely use one of the most high-profile, choreographed events in the country’s political calendar to paint a relatively rosy picture of the state of the British economy following the devastating shock of the pandemic.

The number of companies and freelancers (PFA) that went insolvent in the first nine months this year (January-September) increased by 6.9% compared to the same period in 2020 to 4,307, according to Romanian National Office of the Trade Register (ONRC) data quoted by Agerpres, Romania-Insider.com reported. Most companies and PFAs that went insolvent were in Bucharest, respectively 797, decreasing by 9.64% y/y.

British Brexit minister David Frost said on Monday that the European Union's proposals to solve the problem of trade involving Northern Ireland did not go far enough and significant gaps remained between the two sides, Reuters reported. The two sides are in negotiations to find a common solution to issues with the part of a Brexit deal that governs trade between Britain, British province Northern Ireland, and EU member Ireland. Earlier this month, the European Union presented proposals to fix those issues. "The problem with them is that they don't go far enough.

Three directors have been banned following investigations which found that nearly £100,000 worth of Bounce Back loans had been inappropriately applied for, or misused., according to a press release from the U.K. Insolvency Service. The Bounce Back Loan (BBL) scheme ran to March 2021 and provided loans of up £50,000 to help businesses survive the impact of COVID-19. N&S Solutions Ltd was a cleaning services company incorporated in June 2018. Since October 2018 Rafael Henrique Scher, 38, had been the only director.

The top 10 arrangers for European corporate debt deals typically account for at least 50% of the market. This year is different, Bloomberg News reported. Their share of sales has fallen to 45% so far in 2021, the lowest ever on an annual basis, and about 10 percentage points below the previous decade’s average, according to Bloomberg league table data. It’s because there are more banks fighting for fewer deals, according to Tim Skeet, U.K. regional chair for International Capital Market Association. “The dynamics of the market have changed,” Skeet said.