Insurance reform must be “sorted” in 2021, a group representing businesses across the country has argued, if small and medium sized businesses are to help the economy recover from the Covid-19 pandemic this year, the Irish Times reported. The Alliance for Insurance Reform, which represents civic and business organisations across the country and whose members include the Vintners Federation of Ireland, the Irish Hotels Federation and ISME, has put forward five priority reforms for the sector in 2021.

EasyJet said today that it has begun moves to suspend the voting rights of some non-EU shareholders to comply with post-Brexit airline ownership rules, Reuters reported. European Union rules state that EU airlines must be owned and controlled by EU nationals or else lose their licences. EasyJet has held an Austrian operating licence since 2017 to retain its EU flying rights despite Britain leaving the EU. But the airline is currently 52.65% owned by non-EU shareholders, meaning it must make changes to meet EU rules following the end of the Brexit transition period on Dec. 31.

A lack of tourists in the Czech capital forced City Sightseeing Prague to file for insolvency, Prague Morning reported. City Sightseeing is one of the world’s leading open-top bus, boat, and guided walking tour company. Established in 1999, the global brand provides hop-on hop-off services. City Sightseeing operates in over 100 locations across 5 continents which includes cities such as London, Rome, New York, Edinburgh, Seville, Moscow, Cape Town, and Prague.

With just over four weeks to go until the 31 January self-assessment deadline, several million people in the U.K. still haven’t filed their tax return, the Guardian reported. Each year about 11 million people have to complete a self-assessment tax return. Looking at recent years, there were still 5.4 million taxpayers who hadn’t filed by 31 December 2019, and 5.5 million who were yet to file by 31 December 2018. HMRC says that it is aware that many people will have been adversely affected by the pandemic, and may, for example, need help to spread the cost of their tax bill.

British lawmakers approved Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union yesterday as both sides looked to begin a new chapter of relations just days before their divorce becomes a reality, Reuters reported. Britain and the European Union signed the deal on Wednesday and the British parliament will finalise its implementation, ending over four years of negotiation and safeguarding nearly a $1 trillion of annual trade.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned that Italy is reaching the limits on how much debt the government can take on, even as the European Union opens the door to further borrowing, Bloomberg News reported. While Italy is pushing ahead with a 38 billion-euro ($47 billion) budget for next year, the growing deficit is becoming unsustainable, Conte said during his year-end press conference in Rome on Wednesday. The Senate gave the final approval to the spending package while he was speaking.

U.S. jeweler Tiffany & Co’s shareholders on Wednesday approved a $15.8 billion deal with France’s LVMH, ending an acrimonious dispute between the two luxury retailers that had stretched for more than a year, Reuters reported. At a virtual special stockholder meeting, more than 99 percent of votes cast were in favor of the deal. Billionaire Bernard Arnault-led LVMH made the first offer late last year, but as the luxury industry slipped into a turmoil due to the COVID-19 pandemic the company backed out from its promise to close the deal.

In her last New Year’s address as chancellor, Angela Merkel called on Germans to remain disciplined in the fight against the coronavirus, Bloomberg News reported. The German leader -- who will step down after elections in September -- said that perseverance would be needed during a harsh winter as a vaccination campaign ramps up. Amid concerns about its safety, she said she would get the shot as soon as it’s her turn. Germany is struggling to contain the spread of Covid-19, like many of its neighbors.

European banks are doing something that got them into trouble years ago: loading up on government debt, a trade investors call the “doom loop,” the Wall Street Journal reported. Banks in the eurozone, stuffed with excess cash thanks to Covid-19 central bank relief efforts, bought close to €200 billion, the equivalent of $245 billion, in government debt of their home countries in the year to September. That has raised their holdings by 19% to €1.2 trillion, according to the European Central Bank.

Acadia Healthcare Co. agreed to sell Priory Group, a chain of U.K. mental-health facilities known for treating celebrities for drug and alcohol addiction, to Waterland Private Equity for 1.1 billion pounds ($1.5 billion), Bloomberg News reported. Priory operates about 450 sites across the U.K., specializing in treatment of mental health-care problems as well as conditions ranging from addiction to eating disorders. Acadia, which acquired the British operations in 2016, launched a sale process early this year but temporarily suspended it after the Covid-19 pandemic spread across the world.