Trade unions have acknowledged that the eradication of inefficiencies at Bus Éireann may result in some staff earning less than at present, the Irish Times reported. In letters to the company on Wednesday, they said that any losses incurred by members as part of any new survival plan could be addressed as part of future discussions. However, unions have insisted that Bus Éireann should continue to provide “industry-leading” terms and conditions for its employees.

Consumer prices rose at their fastest level since 2012 in Spain, marking a fresh four-year high for the eurozone’s fourth-largest economy, the Financial Times reported. Rises in transport and housing pushed Spain’s harmonized index of consumer prices up to 3 per cent in February from the same period the previous year. On a monthly basis, prices fell 0.3 per cent compared to January. Both figures were in line with initial estimates from Spain’s statistics office at the end of February.

The number of German companies filing for insolvency fell last year to the lowest level on record thanks to a prolonged upswing in Europe's biggest economy although the amount of creditor claims rose nearly 60 percent, data showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Just 21,518 companies registered for insolvency in 2016, down 7 percent in the seventh consecutive annual drop in numbers and the fewest since insolvency rules changed in 1999, the Federal Statistics Office said in a statement.

Volkswagen AG sought to draw a line under the diesel scandal that has locked it in crisis mode for more than a year, with sweeping restructuring efforts starting to take hold and profitability improving at the namesake car brand, Bloomberg News reported. While Chief Executive Officer Matthias Mueller acknowledged Tuesday that emissions lawsuits will continue to preoccupy the automaker for many years, he said the company is “back on track” and in a position to push ahead with tackling an “epochal shift” in the auto industry.

Britain's plans to leave the European Union threaten to cause Ireland all kinds of economic and security headaches. But a silver lining is expanding daily along the crane-filled banks of the River Liffey, a likely post-Brexit refuge for British banking operations, the International New York Times reported on an Associated Press story. Dublin's financial district barely existed three decades ago but today stretches for nearly a mile on both banks of the river. More than 60 construction cranes are erecting future high-rise offices, hotels and apartments along the riverfront.

Portugal has urged the EU and credit-rating agencies to acknowledge the scale of its economic turnround as the country heads towards its lowest fiscal deficit in more than 40 years, the Financial Times reported. Mário Centeno, the country’s finance minister, wants the EU to remove Portugal from the group of countries subject to penalties for breaking the bloc’s fiscal rules. In an interview he said last year’s fiscal deficit would be “very close to 2 per cent” of gross domestic product, the lowest since democracy was restored in Portugal in 1974.

Swiss commodities trading group ECOM has agreed to buy the factory of German cocoa grinder Euromar Commodities GmbH which declared insolvency in December, Euromar's insolvency administrator said on Monday, Reuters reported. ECOM plans to resume production at Euromar's plant at Fehrbellin near Berlin, insolvency administrator Rolf Rattunde said in a statement. No one was available for comment at ECOM's Swiss head office. Rattunde said a sale contract for Euromar's factory, equipment and site has been signed with ECOM and approved by Euromar's interim committee of creditors.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Friday there had been significant progress with lenders on a bailout review, and that he hoped for a comprehensive deal by April, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Creditors started fresh negotiations with Athens last week on signing off on a new bailout review under the terms of the country's 86 billion euro (74.86 billion pounds) financing facility. The talks have dragged on for months amid disagreement on fiscal targets and whether the International Monetary Fund will come on board.

Less than three years after Etihad Airways saved Alitalia SpA from bankruptcy, the Italian airline is once again on the brink, The Wall Street Journal reported. After spending €400 million ($427 million) to buy effective control of Alitalia in 2014, the Abu Dhabi-based carrier launched a much-ballyhooed effort to improve the Italian airline’s service, expand its international routes and make the domestic business leaner. But the drive has done little to push up passenger numbers or beat back fierce competition from low-cost carriers, leaving Alitalia at risk of bankruptcy.

Depositors should be the last to suffer losses if a bank goes down, the European Central Bank said on Friday, urging EU lawmakers to spell out this principle in their new directive. Fears that small savers would end up bearing the brunt of bank rescues have rattled the euro zone since new European rules, stating that a bank's creditors must lose money before taxpayers, came into force last year, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.